


The Wreck

by the_Min_Dragon



Category: Big Bang (Band), Winner (Band)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gun Violence, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2019-07-25 07:04:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 41,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16192535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_Min_Dragon/pseuds/the_Min_Dragon
Summary: Yongseongyeog is the lair of The Dragon. The organisation breathes and lives because of The Dragon.Not many who's seen The Dragon has lived to tell the story but the ones to survive always have such macabre tales. Seunghyun's been one of the lucky ones who's never had to encounter him. But his luck runs out.After gaining all that he desired and more, Jiyong had given the organisation over to Seungri, his trusted partner so he could finally relax. But recently he had been feeling intensely bored and lonely until a certain subordinate catches his attention.(If this sounded like a Mills & Boon back cover synopsis, it is intentional )orThe Mafia au and Bigbang.*Warning- LOTS OF GORE*





	1. Do or Die

Seunghyun has never seen his boss. Which was not very unusual considering the fact he was only a rookie in the field and men in his rank don’t get to really see the higher-ups. Moreover, the boss never showed his face unless it was absolutely called for.

The boss’ right hand man though, one Mr Seungri does all the dirty work while occasionally receiving calls from someone he calls “hyung”. This was baffling for the entire organisation because who has the balls to call The Dragon “hyung”. Despite Seungri being an extremely social being, no one questions his authority. The last time someone challenged his power, The Dragon himself made an appearance. To say things went south for everyone present would be an understatement. 10 loyal men beheaded and their Headman left blind and missing his legs to tell the story. People still talk about this event which occurred a few years ago in fear, of how the tough, well-built Headman was found weeping in a pool of his own blood and piss.

In case you are still wondering what this violent organisation is, it’s the Korean Mafia. The general opinion is that the Korean Mafia is tame and that the men are all pussies. This opinion holds till one walks down the streets of Busan after 9 in the night. The Russians will look like tame kittens beside the Koreans after a direct encounter with these Asian gangsters.  

Seunghyun’s been a part of the Yongseongyeog for nearly a year. Rising through the ranks have become harder as the organisation has gained traction under The Dragon and become as full-fledged as it is now. The employees rarely make a move against the boss and his plans anymore, knowing very well what he is capable of doing in the case of such an instance.

Before the mafia happened, Seunghyun has somehow always knew that he would never fit in with the normal folks. Never have a normal life. So when his mother passed away and his father’s retirement funds stopped coming in, he knew it was either the streets or the mafia. So he found himself before a club which he knew for sure was owned by some mafia lord. He stood there for 5 hours before he was asked what he wanted and another 8 before he was given access to the manager. A week later he found himself being the assistant to the bouncer at the front door of the club.

It took him another 9 months before he was the manager of the club. This position was pleasing enough to him as it bought in enough money for his expenses and he felt he was well-settled. This quick promotion was not because of his commendable leadership, but had something to do with his slanting eyebrows and his piercing eyes. When he is serious, his intimidating features have people scrambling to obey his orders. It worked in his favor and Seunghyun finds a small perverse pleasure in the power his appearance holds.

He comes across Seungri once in a blue moon. Monthly meetings are held in the conference hall of any one of the posh hotels owned by the Yongseongyeog. The location is never specified until an hour before the meeting is to commence. At these meetings, the accounts are presented and gains are compared among the Headsmen. Seunghyun’s Headman attends most of these meetings as he overlooks 4 other clubs other than the one Seunghyun manages. But once in a while in the absence of his Headman, Seunghyun is called in to do the talking. He never understands why, because he being a rookie manager will definitely be junior to the other club managers.

These meetings best portray the efficient businessman in Seungri. Despite his age and attitude he owns everyone’s attention and loyalty, while also inciting a healthy amount of fear. The crude gangsters present in the room are always on their toes in their desperate attempt to please him and not step over their boundaries in his presence.  

On a fateful day, when Seunghyun is called in for a meeting in the absence of his Headman, he meets Seungri unarmed and unguarded in the loo while the meeting breaks for tea. When Seunghyun opens the door, Seungri is washing his hands and looks up at the mirror eyes directly making eye-contact with Seunghyun. Without knowing whether he should leave in respect or do his buisness, he freezes at the door. He might have looked a little comical in his indecision at the threshold.

Seungri snorts. ‘Cute’ Seungri comments as he is patting his hands dry and looking curiously at Seunghyun. Understanding that this might be his cue to leave, Seunghyun begins to turn in the doorway. ‘Go ahead, I’m done anyway” Seungri says.

Regardless of his casual tone, Seunghyun knows he cannot disobey Seungri, not if he wants all his body parts intact when he gets home in the evening. So he treads softly as if he were walking on a flower bed to the urinal and unzips his pants. He’s hyper-aware of Seungri’s presence and as he starts pissing, Seungri approaches him. He stands in the next urinal and looks at Seunghyun’s exposed nether parts.

‘Hmm…’ Seungri hums appreciatively at his well-endowed size. When Seunghyun lifts his head questioningly. ‘The grapevine wasn’t lying this time’ Seungri continues with a smirk. At this point, Seunghyun is sweating in bucket proportions. His limited experience in dealing with higher-ups coupled with his panic is not helping his situation.

Seunghyun shakes, tucks and zips up all the while keeping his head down. He bows deeply showing his respect and turns towards the door to leave. ‘Cat took your tongue?’ Seungri says, tone bordering on anger. Seunghyun freezes in his tracks, not knowing what to do at the face of this sudden, unexpected anger. While turning around, in a rush to defuse the situation, Seunghyun responds without much thought.

‘I like my head very much’ Seunghyun blurts out. At that moment, he wants to break open the window at the end of the corridor in which the toilet is located and jump off the hotel building. He knows it will be much less painful than the fate which is waiting for him after the sort of reply he’s given to Seungri just now. He solemnly waits for the backlash with a lowered head. It can’t be a shot to the head considering Seungri is unarmed. So painful it will be.

After a long solid minute of deadly silence, Seungri snickers. Seunghyun wonders whether he’s hallucinating.  ‘Is this about the incident in Jung-gu?’ Seungri lowers his head to look at Seunghyun’s downcast eyes.   ‘You’re new, aren’t you? I wonder what version of the story they’ve told you. The whole lot of them are worse than a set of gossiping ahjummas’ he snickers more at his own comment.

Seunghyun bows once more and whispers a silent ‘sorry’.

Seungri circles him slowly. In built, he is smaller and leaner than Seunghyun is. But his expertise in Jiu-jitsu is no secret to the members of the organisation. This, Seunghyun thinks must be the reason why Seungri carries no weapon on his body. ‘Did you think that us meeting here is by mistake?’ Seungri drawls at him, all the cheer lost in his tone.

‘Yes, sir. Forgive me’ Seunghyun says back him. He keeps his head down despite the pressing instinctual need to know exactly where Seungri is behind him.

‘You will help me take down your Headman. He has been passing on information to the police regarding our drug deals in Daegu. He has also been collecting information on the whereabouts of the boss. Once it is in the hands of the police it will be a messy job to retrieve it.” Seungri said solemnly.

Seunghyun takes a minute to understand the implications of this situation. It finally dawns on him why he was called in for the monthly meetings. Him being a rookie, will not be naturally trusted enough by his headman to do his dirty work against the boss. Seungri has chosen him now because of how his allegiance to his headman was new and therefore will not be deep enough to disobey the boss’ wishes. Seunghyun nodded in affirmation. ‘Yes, sir' he says in spite of him knowing that Seungri’s statement was not a question, but an order.

‘Do what I ask you to do and prove your loyalty to the boss. He’ll let you keep your precious head and maybe a promotion too.’ Seungri says in that same commanding voice as he pats his shoulder and leave the loo.

When the door swings shut behind him, Seunghyun startles. He’s been told that this is how the mafia works, that the only person that he is supposed to be truly loyal to is The Dragon in the Yongseongyeog, but he can't help feel queasy at this turn of events.    

That evening when Seunghyun comes home to his apartment he finds an envelope on his coffee table with very minimal directions. He understands that the trespassing is a part of the intimidation. It is to inform him how they don’t need to even break his locks to enter and leave his private space. The envelope informs him of how his soon-to-be-dead Headman will be present at his club on Chuseok. Seunghyun is supposed to confiscate his official suitcase before the transaction happens between the police, which is scheduled on Chuseok night at his club. He also finds a gun taped to the underside of his small dining table.

Through the night, Seunghyun sits on his lumpy couch thinking about how this single event will change all the plans he had for his future. He had anticipated to stay a manager at the club through his mafia career considering how he has to do only some drug trafficking here and there, arrange a few hookers for the VIPs who come in once in a while and do accounts. This killing could bring him into the spotlight with his fellow workers and some of them might also conceive the opinion that he intentionally betrayed his Headman, despite what he’s about to do being a common occurrence, for the position of Headman. Seungri’s idea of promotion will most definitely be appointing Seunghyun as the next Headman which will only fuel the unpopular opinion about him and also a much more direct involvement with the organisation itself. Seunghyun has previously made a very conscious effort to stay away from exactly such an involvement.

In the liminal light which comes in through the window at sunrise, Seunghyun shivers in anticipation of the Chuseok night. This one event will make or break his life. He feels absolutely no remorse the Headman. From what little Seunghyun knows about him, he is single and has cut contact with his family at least a decade previously. So none of his family will be involved in the punishment. Seunghyun tells himself that that the Headman's betrayal to the organisation is of the highest order and he simply deserves to be punished.

Seunghyun runs his index finger over the matte barrel of the gun which shines in the morning light. He knows it’s Semi-automatic because the bouncer he was assistant to in the beginning, was asked to carry one of these, especially on the days the VIPs came around. But that’s about all he knows about the gun, or any gun in general. He hasn’t fired one, has never even thought of firing one before. If the promotion happens then he’ll be asked to carry on punishments of the crimes of the lower-class men working for the organisation. Punishments in Yongseongyeog were either death or torture, depending on the crime committed to the organisation. Seunghyun wasn’t particularly averse to blood but none of the things which happen in the Yongseongyeog are simple blood-spilling. He’s never seen a torture scene but he’s heard a bartender being torn apart for stealing money from the counter once. The headman had turned up and the bartender was fired from the job, with both his thumbs missing. On the nights when Seunghyun tosses and turns in his sleep, he can still hear the bartender’s screams from the storage room.

Seunghyun knows how this is a do-or-die situation. He pushes off the couch and walks into his semi-kitchen for his morning coffee. And he’d rather live than be dead in a ditch in Busan. Seems like he’ll have to let his life change. For better or for worse he’ll only know later. 


	2. The Dragon

On the night before Chuseok, Seunghyun couldn’t bring himself to sleep. He fervently wishes that things will go as planned on the D-day. He yearns to talk to someone about this, someone he could trust. But Seunghyun was never big on social skills and the small number of people who he could call friends were from before the time he decided to work for the Yongseongyeog. After his decision was made, he dutifully cut off all ties in fear for his friends’ safety. He wishes he could talk to one particular Kang Daesung, but the consequences weighs him down.

Over the last week he has been receiving envelopes with bits and pieces of information regarding his Headman’s meeting at his club. The fact that help will be provided is evident, yet who will help him and in what way is left obscure to Seunghyun. These envelopes were also reminders of what is to happen, during the times when Seunghyun tried pushing it to the back of his mind, to have a rare moment of peace. Seunghyun hopes after this, things will clear up.

Chuseok rushes in for Seunghyun, with none of the festive mood but waves of dread. Pre-opening preparations at the club goes well. In expectation of a large turnout, the bar is well stocked. Seunghyun has checked and double checked every last detail to make sure that things go smoothly and that nothing will come across as suspicious.

All through the evening Seunghyun’s on pins. The gun which he had pushed into his belt, under his suit coat, is forceful in reminding him what is to come. At no point is he able to keep himself still, so he keeps moving through the crowds constantly, face set as if he is going around to take care of some important business, when he actually is doing nothing but pacing. As if on clockwork, the Headman turns up at 10:30 with his infamous suitcase and a bodyguard in tow.

The envelopes had assured him that there will be men among the crowd at the club to help Seunghyun tackle the Headman. He hopes with all his might that these promised men anticipated the bulky bodyguard. His instructions here is to remove the suitcase from the Headman’s possession and keep it in his custody till further notice.

Seunghyun lets out a breath from where he is leaning on a pillar when the Headman descends the stairs. Seunghyun starts making his way towards his target with purpose in his stride. The dance floor throws a combination of lights on the Headman’s face on which Seunghyun’s eyes are focused on. Turning out the music from his head, Seunghyun’s complete attention is on his mission. The Headman sees him from a distance and acknowledges him not knowing what is about to happen. _So the secrecy of the envelopes has worked_

As if in a choreography, with the music, a man turns hugs the bodyguard from behind and slits his throat. There is a hot gush of blood spattering everywhere as Seunghyun closes in on the Headman like a vulture and sweeps away the suitcase. At the moment he snatches the suitcase from the Headman’s hands, the man looks at him with a deep sense of fear and betrayal.

Once Seunghyun feels the firm handle of the suitcase in his palm his focus scatters again. He is progressively moving towards the back exit but he also hears the loud screams at the blood. The shock of this cold-blooded murder has frozen the crowd over, which prevents the Headman’s mobility from its center.  When Seunghyun turns the handle of the back door and takes a one last look at the Headman, he sees him wildly shouting for the police. Seunghyun thinks it’s ironic how the Headman being a part of the mafia is shouting to the police for help and he leaves the noises behind as he closes the door.

He’s now faced with the deserted back-alley behind the club. He takes a look around the area before he makes a bee-line towards the corner which turns onto the main street. As he turns it, he hears distinct gunshots behind him and he breaks out into a run.

‘Shit Shit Shit’ Seunghyun mumbles under his breath. He has to get somewhere safe. ‘The apartment?... No, they know where I live. Where? Where? Where else?’ he keeps mumbling all while he keeps moving blindly through the landscape which was once his hometown, a friendly place. Now it feels like he’s in The Dragon’s lair, awaiting to be eaten whole.

 

Without making a conscious decision, Seunghyun ends up at the city park. He moves to one of the areas shrouded in darkness. He finds a spot behind a shed-like a structure and sits on the ground behind it, finally catching his breath. He sobers up enough from his panic to wonder why Seungri didn’t come to save his ass, if not at least for the documents in the suitcase. He draws out his phone from his pockets.

 **Lotte Hotel. 00:00. Ask for the panda at the lobby** _._

The number is unknown but Seunghyun has an idea who this must be from. He feels drained from the hailstorm of adrenaline. The phone clock says he has another hour left. If he takes a taxi, the Lotte is 10 minutes away and if he walks, taking the shortcuts he’ll take 30 minutes. The walk will clear his head, so he chooses the harder way out.

He lights a cigarette, the burning tobacco forcing his body to relax. He slowly bumps his head repeatedly on the structure behind him. Suddenly Seunghyun cocks his head. _What information can be in this suitcase as to kill multiple people for it, that too in the public? What did I nearly kill myself for?_ Seunghyun switches on his phone light, hoping fervently that it doesn’t draw attention. He doesn’t know who he is running from, but he instinctively knows people are out for his head.

There is a number lock for the suitcase, and the numbers look random. Seunghyun decides to try his luck and turn the dials to 000. And like a magic trick, the lock clicks open. He lets out an exasperated gasp and imagines his Headman must have been extremely confident of not getting caught. There are a few labelled yellow envelopes inside. He opens the one labelled ‘ACCOUNTS’. There are a few sheets of papers with short descriptions and big numbers on it, which he is unable to make head or tail about it.

The next label is ‘PHOTOS’. Seunghyun stops for a second to think as to what he’s about to see.

The first one is that of a man riding another in a warmly lit room. The angle is from behind, the man in the bottom is arching off the bed. The man on top is leaning back and looking at the ceiling. Seunghyun feels like a voyeur, like he’s seeing something he shouldn’t be.

When the initial shock passes, Seunghyun starts looking for details. The man on the top has a tattoo on the back of his neck. It looks like an archangel, the face is covered by the chains he is wearing, and its detailed wings are spread wide. The man is lean, and there seems to be more ink on his body but the angle provides no space to make any idea of the remaining tattoos. The man, below him because of his arching, is not recognizable, as his face is obscure to the camera. If the photo is in such high resolution and at this angle, Seunghyun wonders how anyone took it without being caught, _unless of course the people in the photo wanted to be captured_. Seunghyun also wonders that if the photo could be taken in such an angle in the first place, why are both the faces not visible in the photo.

The second one has the first man with the archangel tattoo again, he’s stepping out of a car. This photo seems to have been taken with a high focus, designed for clarity in zooming, camera. The man has his back to the camera again and the car roof blocking his body. But this time his head is angled in such a way that a small portion of the side of his face and the lit cigarette between his lips are visible. No recognizable feature can be deducted from the photo, other than the tattoo again.

 _So this archangel-tattoo-guy should be The Dragon_ , Seunghyun wonders because of the repetition in this man being photographed. Then he bolts back in shock, hitting his head hard on the structure behind him. He suddenly understands the relevance of the photos and why they had to be retrieved without fail. _The Dragon lets men fuck him?_

The revelation leaves Seunghyun trembling, he holds the future of Yongseongyeog in his hands. He closes the suitcase and jumbles the numbers in the number lock again. His breaths start speeding up again. A photo of The Dragon taking it up his ass will not sit well with the traditional members of the gang, which is nearly the whole of the mafia to begin with.

True, that men fuck men in their field of work. But it is mostly always in the form of punishment, to discipline or to humiliate. A man fucked publicly is a man with no manhood anymore, he is paid no respect. The few new ones who get cocky, are also fucked into submission. The Dragon being fucked makes him look incapable of leading the Yongseongyeog. He cannot be submissive to another man, not if he wants to stay the boss. Seunghyun runs a hand through his hair, distressed.

If these photos ever get out, he will be tortured and killed. Seunghyun’s pretty sure the second will be welcome after the first. He switches off the phone light, feeling a fresh wave of panic rising in his gut. He stands up and lights another cigarette, all while never letting go of the suitcase. He drops his plan to walk, and decides to take a taxi. The walking will put him in a vulnerable position, and he is not ready to take that sort of risk when he has such important things to guard.

Its 11:40 by the time he walks out of the park, having calmed down finally. All he’s left with is cool determination and an acute need to survive the night.

 

Five minutes to 12:00 Seunghyun asks the fake-cheerful lady at the lobby where he can find the panda. The smile on her face grows cold. ‘15th floor, sir. I hope you were summoned’ she says grimly. When the doors to the elevator opens on the designated floor, Seunghyun is faced with the two bodyguards with automatic guns pointed at him.

‘Name?’ the more intimidating one asks in a low tone. There is a sort of tension hanging in the air which has nothing to do with pointed guns. The Bodyguards look like they themselves fear death tonight. _The Dragon must be furious_ Seunghyun wonders.

‘Choi Seunghyun, here to see the panda.’ Seunghyun replies quietly.

They move out of the way and Seunghyun reckons he has to walk down the corridor. At the end there is a set of double doors, he lifts his hand up to knock. But the door swings open. Seunghyun is faced with one of Seungri’s lackeys. Seunghyun bows deeply to him and is showed into what is the sitting room of the royal suite at the Lotte Hotel. The whole room is designed in earthy shades, the paint, upholstery and the furniture are all nice on the eyes. He finds Seungri sitting with a smug expression on the couch.

‘Oh hello there. Again.’ Seungri’s smile becomes full-blown at the expense of Seunghyun’s discomfort. ‘Open the suitcase and put the contents on the table’ Seunghyun unthinkingly opens the suitcase with no effort whatsoever and starts stacking the envelopes on the coffee table. He suddenly freezes up and turns to see Seungri looking at him intensely.

He just proved himself guilty of going through the contents of the suitcase. Even though it was unsaid, it is understood that him being a messenger of sorts should be loyal enough to not look through the contents of the message he is delivering. He just finishes what he started and stands beside the table, unable to foresee how Seungri will react to this information.

‘Sit down’ Seungri says grimly, all cheer missing from his demeanor. Seunghyun finds a seat on the elaborate sofa set, somewhere near Seungri. ‘You shouldn’t have’ Seungri says in a very low voice, which rings clear in the large room.

As if on cue, a man in a black silk pyjamas casually wanders into the room. He has a small content smile on his face which might also pass for a smirk. His pyjama shirt is missing, instead he has black gossamer robe on, which is untied and shows a good portion of his chest. There are two X’s above his navel which attracts attention to how slender his body is. His jet-black hair is tousled and pokes out in random areas. _Soft_ Seunghyun thinks. The man walks around the sofa facing Seungri and takes a seat, bouncing a little on the sofa.

On finally noticing Seunghyun, the man looks at him a little pointedly. _I must look haggard and unkempt_ Seunghyun thinks, suddenly becoming a little conscious of his appearance. ‘I didn’t know we were entertaining guests tonight, Seungri’ the man drawls. His voice is piercing, yet not hard. Seungri sits up and looks at the Seunghyun.

‘You don’t know who he is, do you?’ Seungri addresses Seunghyun. He starts breaks out in cold sweat for the hundredth time that night, _Should I be knowing who he is?_ Seunghyun searches his memory for the face of the man before him and a name to connect to it. The man turns his head to the side in an exasperated mock laugh and then it clicks. Seunghyun sees the tips of an angel wing and his jaw drops in shock.

‘Bow down to your boss, Seunghyun’ Seungri leans in to whisper into his ears successfully running a cold shiver down his spine.  

**_The Dragon._ **


	3. Holy Mass

Seunghyun’s on his knees, his back is bent and his head is on the floor. The Dragon stands tall, looking down upon him. It makes Seunghyun feel insignificant before the man, despite being a foot taller and a few inches thicker than him in reality. There is a fire in the man’s eyes which over-compensates for all his physical shortcomings. He looks regal and terrifyingly dangerous, like a dragon. Seunghyun cowers under him.

‘Do you admit that you looked through the photos?’ Seungri says somewhere behind him. His unpredictable presence makes Seunghyun all the more uncomfortable. He nods. The big toe of a foot touches his chin and forces his head up. He nearly loses himself in the burn of those fire-filled eyes staring down at him. Seunghyun breaks eye contact immediately and looks at the ground again.

‘Look at me’ The Dragon whispers. Seunghyun looks up at him, terrified of the consequences of defying more orders. ‘Now answer Seungri, in words’ Seunghyun shivers violently. In a far corner of his mind he wonders how a man so slender, who looks so weak can hold such power in his gaze. Enough to stomp and grind to the ground someone like himself with what looks like no effort at all.

‘Yes’ Seunghyun croaks out. He doesn’t catch the movement but a slap lands across his face in so much force that he falls sideways. The side of his face burns and Seunghyun lifts his hand to touch it. The very same foot from before lands a kick on his side and he turns to lie on his back. The Dragon’s bare foot presses down on his Adams apple, choking him.

‘Tell me why we need to keep him again?’ The Dragon sneers at Seungri.

‘Hyung, please. As it is we are losing more than 20 men today, out of which there are 3 managers and several other able-bodied men. Making an example is great, true. But we still need men to work for us’ Seungri rushes through his speech in his attempt to discourage him from his actions and then lets out a deep sigh. ‘We can’t just go around killing everybody, Hyung. Seunghyun-ssi has been loyal to you-’ a heavy pause ‘mostly. He just made a small mistake. A mistake only we saw. If he keeps his mouth shut’ Seungri turns to Seunghyun to give him a meaningful look ‘which he will, this doesn’t leave this room’

‘They wouldn’t have had to die if they were loyal to me, Seungri.’ The Dragon coldly counters to Seungri’s argument. Seunghyun feels hot tears running down the side of his face from the lack of air and the absolute terror the man above him instils in him. After a moment of thought, The dragon starts again, ‘But I think we can keep this one’. Seunghyun feels like he’s broken into already, when it hasn’t even started yet. The Dragon regards him for a few moments and then breaks into a bright smile which is also absolutely evil. He has the fire burning bright in his eyes, like he’s about to go for the kill.

‘You will bring yourself like the good boy you are to your headman’s questioning.’ The Dragon instructs him in a low soothing voice while massaging his foot on the column of Seunghyun’s throat, the whiplash in the treatment confusing and suffocating Seunghyun equal parts. ‘You will watch what is done to people who dares to cross me’

 

Seunghyun had retreated into a corner at some point in the night. He noticed Seungri following The Dragon into what he presumes is the bedroom. The cold gets to Seunghyun and he starts shivering. He somehow feels that he does not deserve to sit on the sofa anymore. Time passes easily but for Seunghyun every moment seems to weigh him down, tire him out without him having to move a muscle.

Sometime around 3 a.m. Seungri comes out of the room and orders his lackey to collect Seunghyun off the floor and bring the car to the lobby. Something tells Seunghyun that the questioning is about to start. The lackey, who Seunghyun vaguely remembers being called Mino, pulls him off the floor. They head off towards the elevator and everyone including the bodyguards file in. Someone punches in the button for the underground parking. Mino separates himself from them heading towards a silver BMW M3, while the bodyguards push Seunghyun towards a more discreet black Ford Escape.

Within an hour or so they reach a deserted church somewhere in one of the least favourable parts of Busan. The bodyguards park the car and all three of them, including Seunghyun steps out. While waiting for new orders, Seungri’s M3 also drives up the dirt path. Seungri steps out in an all-black suit, shirt to the tie to even his socks, like he’s here for a funeral. He only makes a gesture at them to follow him as he heads into the building.

When he approaches the large double doors, they open to him with ease. The interior of the church is bathed dimly in warm, inviting light which adds to it looking ethereal for some odd reason. There are several men with black head bags and tied hands, kneeling in two neat rows in the middle of the unfurnished church. Double their number is standing around in guard, some pointing guns at the kneeling men. The trained eye can see the slight drop in Seungri’s shoulder and his eyes become a little vacant at the scene, at what he is about to do. He heads for the elevated altar while Mino stands a step below him, a gun held freely in his right hand.

Meanwhile Seunghyun is led to one corner of that very altar by one of the bodyguards, the intention being he gets a very clear view of what is happening. The men facing the altar all stand in attention as Seungri is about to speak.

‘We all know why we’re gathered here today’ Seungri begins. Seunghyun is reminded of the beginning of a Holy Mass. ‘These men here have betrayed The Dragon, we have evidence that they conspired against the Yongseongyeog with the police. It is necessary for everyone present here that we persecute these men and warn other rats in our system of what is to come if they do the same.’ There is a collective silence in agreement to Seungri’s words.

Seunghyun wonders why the men who are going to be killed are not begging for mercy. Perhaps they are happy to take a bullet to the head when in comparison to the possible torture that can be inflicted on them otherwise. ‘Bring in the Headman’ Seungri continues voice turning grimmer with every word he utters.

Someone pushes in the Headman from the shadowed side wings, and he falls on his face. He crawls and tries to stand up. The light in the middle of the church finally hits his face to reveal the greenish-blue bruises from the brutal treatment he’s received. Despite the pain he is in, he looks calm and collected. He is walked to the foot of the altar and forced to turn and face the kneeling men.

‘Mino’ Seungri says in a near-pained voice. In the silence of the church, Mino removing the safety of the gun resounds through the walls. He hands the gun to Seungri which he takes with a uncharacteristic hesitation. Seungri descends the stairs of the altar and makes his way to the first of the heeled and presses the gun’s muzzle to the head of the first man. For a moment there, Seungri looks like he is taking a breath and readying himself. The first shot fires, Seunghyun flinches. The kneeling man falls with a thud to the group, and red bleeds out from the black of the head bag. The shot is not loud as Seunghyun expected, he then notices the silencer attached to the gun.

‘Aish… Seungri, I thought I taught you better than that’ says that same terrifying voice which crawled on Seunghyun’s skin not a few hours ago says. The words float in from the shrouded side-wings opposite to where the Headman was bought out from. All the men in the room looks around frantically, their earlier cool demeanours broken, most of them looking shocked at the unannounced presence of their boss. Seunghyun squints hard in the direction where the voice just came out from, making out the same slender figure he was unlucky enough to meet.

‘Hyung?’ Seungri calls, his voice wavering at this point.

The Dragon pushes himself off of the wall he was leaning against and walks out into the light. A few gasps resound among the men gathered including Seunghyun, who is mainly blown away by the change in his appearance the most. Everything about him which came across as soft earlier looks sharp to cut now, but then again not in the most masculine of ways. He has a well-fit black suit on, with no shirt underneath. A grey fur coat is thrown over his shoulders and a black choker is around his neck. His eyes are lined black, his hair looks wet and slick. The most shocking among all the things he is wearing, are his black stilettos. _If the photos don’t get out, then this will be enough indication he is gay_ Seunghyun thinks.

He takes the mid-way of the church towards the altar, the men, kneeling and standing, cower away at the sound of his footsteps. Seunghyun initially thinks it’s a little amusing of how this androgynous looking man who looks so slender and weak manages to scare all these hard-core mafia thugs. And then he remembers The Dragon’s face while he was pressing down his foot on Seunghyun’s throat, of that fire in his eyes. In retrospection it even looked like he was enjoying Seunghyun’s fear and pain, _sadist_ Seunghyun fixes in his head. Only if he could know the extent to which The Dragon could go, but he backtracks too scared of the prospects of the said knowledge.

The Dragon walks straight to Seungri’s side and extends his hand for the gun. Seungri hands it to him and he removes the silencer with grace and expertise while scanning the faces of the men before. He even turns back to look at the Headman with a sneer. After he has ran his eyes over Seunghyun, he lips curve in a distinct smirk which clearly says Eyes on me, bitch.

He then hands the gun back to Seungri, pats him on the back and steps back from him. ‘Let’s hear it, Seungri’ he drawls to him and his enraptured audience.

The second shot startles Seunghyun and nearly all the other men too. The acoustics of the church adds to the booming of the noise. The Dragon looks around like a proud mom whose son has just been awarded the best kid award at school. The headman still looks pretty calm, which sours up his face while he is scanning over people for reactions.

‘Make sure the headman keeps his eye open through this’ The Dragon orders at the men holding the Headman. There is already a very vacant, dead look in the Headman’s eyes, The dragon’s words does nothing to add to them. Seungri clears through 8 of the men with no hesitation after that, the shots ringing loud and clear.

While he walks towards the 9th man and raises the gun to his head, the man behind the head mask screams ‘Appa, please… Please save me’

This kicks the headman into a reaction finally, he surges forward while being in complete shock, the men around him tries to keep him in a firm hold. There is an obvious crack in his earlier calm wall of resistance.  He keeps struggling blindly against the men now. Seunghyun briefly looks at The Dragon right then and realizes how much he is enjoying the show. Seungri is back to looking uncomfortable, yet seems to know how all of this will end.

‘Why are you hesitating?’ The Dragon asks. Seungri rearranges his hold on the gun for a firmer grip. The Dragon puts a hand on his hip, hitching it and waits for the shot. Seunghyun’s heart is doing a number in his chest, he reckons it might break out of his ribcage by how hard it is beating.

‘No. Please don’t… Not my son. He’s innocent. Leave him out of this’ The Headman begs. His knees look buckled and the men around him are holding him up. ‘Please…’ he begs some more.

At this point, The Dragon looks triumphant, like he’s won a game of gamble. Seungri looks at him, like he’s expecting more orders. Something about Seungri’s face says he doesn’t expect The Dragon to have mercy but then again there’s a line of hope.

‘I thought my orders were clear, Seungri. Should I be forced to punish your disobedience, in front of all these men?’ The Dragon drawls all while keeping his eyes on the begging Headman, enjoying the sense of power he holds above the entire situation.

There is no more hesitation, the shot is fired. Seunghyun closes his eyes and lets out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. Seungri, in his own way seems shaken and moves towards the next man with no more event.

The Headman who was in shock after the shot rang, starts screaming so loud that some men shuts their ears. Seunghyun soaks all that agony up, he feels he himself has played a huge role in that pain and thus he deserves to feel it to the worst. The scream doesn’t startle Seungri or The Dragon at all. Seungri seems to have accepted his hand in this and raises the gun to the head of the next man, feeling somewhat eager to finish this all off. The Dragon lets out a chuckle covering his mouth with one hand, which in any other context would have looked coy and cute.

The Headman finally finds his words when the 10th man is shot and fell at the feet of The Dragon.

‘You faggot’ the Headman heaves. ‘I’ll make you pay for this’

There is then again a dead silence in the church. All eyes are on The Dragon now. Where a furious lashing out was expected, he coldly laughs out loud. This unnerves the men even more. He slowly approaches the Headman and brings his face in level with the broken man before him.

‘Not if you are dead, my sweet Headman’ The Dragon sing-songs.


	4. Cradle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I know I've mentioned violence before regarding this fic, but I felt that I should remind y'all. Tread this chapter with care. Thanks for all the comments. Much love. I'll try to keep the updates as regular as possible.

The headman screams at The Dragon, loud and resonant in the church. It’s not a scream of rage, with an intention of revenge. There is only sad desperation there, laced with fear. The man’s face turns uglier, redder and there is a lot of spit, he looks pathetic. The dragon struts around rather gracefully making a circle around the men gathered there, like the screams are music to only a dance he knows. Seungri has lost all light in his face, when Mino reloads his gun for him again, they exchange a look which seems to be giving Seungri some sort of comfort. Seunghyun thinks Mino looks younger than most men there, but the man sure holds Seungri’s trust.

His knees are trembling at this point. He remembers himself at his apartment justifying his act of betrayal. Seunghyun had reasoned that the Headman had betrayed their boss, that he is being punished for his crimes and that he had gotten into the mafia fully knowing the consequences of such a life. Seunghyun, never in his worst nightmares, thought that family would be drawn into this ordeal, never thought his actions will hurt another innocent person. Something, somewhere in him breaks like delicate glass in the intensity of the Headman’s screams.

When the last man falls, The Dragon claps his hands together delightedly like a child seeing candy which he begged for. The action would have looked cute if not for the macabre situation. Seungri lets out a breath and turns his gun on the Headman, aiming like a man used to taking long shots. The screams stop, the headman turns on The Dragon again looking like man who’s lost it all. The sudden attention stops The dragon in his tracks too, whose smiles dims down. There are no words exchanged but the tension in the room spikes. The next words the Headman utters seals his fate.

‘This faggot lets himself get fucked by some cheap whore and calls himself your leader, and none of you cockless fucks utter a word’ he spits out word by word, aimed at the men still standing, and at The Dragon. He takes a pause to draw in a breath and seeing that he is not getting the reaction he aimed for. He then turns on Seungri, in a last attempt to draw blood ‘I know you’re his little slut too, opened your legs to him at 16 and climbed ranks so quick’

The next few things happens really quick, yet it is in slow motion for Seunghyun. Seungri strengthens his hold on his gun, looking grave as he aims with the intent to take the shot, but The dragon in one motion has a death grip on the Headman’s chin. He tilts the Headman’s head to reveal the column of his neck to the light and to the glinting blade he pushes on his pulse. The laugh that leaves The Dragon is nothing short of maniacal. Seungri lowers his gun slowly, glowering and angry, finally showing emotions expected of a mafia lord’s lackey at an execution.

‘Now, now Headman. I was going to let you die of a comparatively painless death. Just make an example, finish the job and go home to my whores’ The Dragon sighs dramatically like one of those ladies on the Broadway, anger lacing his words ‘But now that’s no more an option, eh?’. The Dragon’s tone is no more faux-playful, it’s hardened to threaten. His whole demeanour leaks that need to kill, that Seunghyun is no stranger. Even though it’s not directed at him Seunghyun feels his mind giving in to that fear again. The Dragon maintains a predatory eye-contact with the Headman, who in turn looks at him full-on. This new defiance in his victim seems to arouse all that’s ugly within The Dragon.

‘Seungri, I’d like my Judas Cradle today’ The Dragon says like he is ordering Coffee at a local café, all while holding the Headman’s gaze. Everyone in the room visibly pales at this, except Seunghyun. He has no idea what this is supposed to mean. His mind is no more in a state to comprehend the things happening around him very well either. The headman has gone silent, eyes widened in terror. Seungri has his eyes closed tight, his face contorted as if he is in physical pain.

‘Hyung…’ Seungri says in a small voice, nearly inaudible if not for the dead silence in the church.  

The Dragon just turns back to look at him casually, but it spurs Seungri into action as if he decided against protesting against the request himself. Mino follows him as he exits the church as if on a doomed mission. The Dragon looks like he is relaxed again, now that he has one up against the Headman. He starts slowly strutting around the church again, like he owns it and everything in it, including the men.

‘See, my men, the headman being our special guest today, we should treat him well. I’ve decided to bring out one of the best from my collection, such an absolute honour. She’s from the medieval England, restored, polished and all ready for her next affair.’ The Dragon addresses the men with a coy smile.

Seungri walks back in from one of the doors in the side-wings, carrying coils of thick black rope. Mino rolls in a wooden structure which Seunghyun has never laid eyes on before. It has 4 legs like a normal chair, a wheel attached to each leg. The top surface is a conically built. The dragon looks on proudly at the device. Seunghyun feels like they are looking at an art exhibit The dragon acquired. Mino places the device in the middle of the church and kicks the wheels to loosen them and settles it.

The Dragon has now walked to the middle of the men and watches as the duo readies his precious device. Seungri throws the rope to a bar in the ceiling, and starts doing a complicated knot. He seems well-versed in ropes, as he measures and ties with a stone face. The dragon lifts his hand to signal the men holding the Headman to bring him forward. He’s pushed to where Seungri holds the rope waiting for him. Seunghyun notices how well The Dragon knows Seungri to know when he is ready with no verbal or non-verbal cues whatsoever. He doesn’t get time to ponder on this thought because he is jarred by the observation that the Headman is crying, silently but tears falling fast and steady.

He becomes curious as to what this device can do to make a group of hard-core mafia men sweat and weep. Seungri directs the men to undress the headman to his underwear and then goes on to tie the rope around the man. He starts at his hands and then connects it to his mid-riff and to his legs. By the end of the process, the Headman is suspended in a broad V shape, two ropes extends from his hands and legs, slung over the bar overhead. His bottom is right above the conical surface of the device which was wheeled in. And then it clicks for Seunghyun, of what is about to happen. Seunghyun feels like he wants to heave out the contents of his already empty stomach. To top it all off, someone starts playing instrumental music, must be under the instruction of The dragon, but it makes Seunghyun’s head spin.

The two ends of the rope, one held by Seungri and the other by Mino is passed on to the men who were previously holding the headman. Mino goes on to unlock two chains, with iron balls connected to the ends from the underside of the device. He hands it to The Dragon who finally walks forward while swaying with the music.

‘The Judas Cradle in a church, ha!’ The dragon at this point looks positively jubilant with the turn of events. This further edges Seunghyun, his breaths becoming shorter ‘Not so brave anymore, are we?’ The Dragon addresses the Headman.

No response other than a low whimper comes from the Headman.

‘Lower the ropes, boys. Don’t lose the balance now’ his voice so casual, fondly instructive like a kindergarten teacher with his students. Seunghyun’s slightly dizzy, unsteady on his feet, his panic attack hopelessly close to control now.

The dragon walks in between the spread legs of the Headman right when the conical surface is right above the man’s asshole and smiles wickedly. ‘You see Headman, somehow men like you have got it into your heads that we faggots are pussies, not tough at all.’ The Dragon runs a hand through his hair, adjusting a few stray strands. ‘I think it’s really important for men like you to know how it’s like, taking it up the ass’ The Dragon breaks out laughing on his own at his dark plan.

Black spots are appearing in Seunghyun’s visions at this point due to the lack of oxygen he is able to pump into his system. The man beside him notices his difficulty with a worried look, not really making a move to help. Seunghyun feels his legs are about to give out from the pressure he feels at the whole event, he starts swaying. The bodyguard puts a hand underneath his bicep, supporting him to stand straight and still.

The Dragon slings the chained iron balls with ease around the angles of the Headman successfully yanking his bottom down onto the sharp cone. The loudest scream of the night resounds in the church.

Blood drips down the side of the cone onto the floor.

Seunghyun’s vision goes blank and his head hits the floor.

 

He next wakes up in a moving car, his head still light and aching. He searches around him on the seat in the darkness and touches a hand. ‘Ah, our new Headman seems to be awake, Seungri’ says a voice which induces torrential fear in Seunghyun, he pulls back his hand as if he’s been burnt. He startles and sits up straight. He looks around, the face of the man beside him in the back seat of the purring car coming into focus.

_The Dragon._

Seunghyun feels himself starting to shiver again, this time definitely not from the cold. The driver’s face gets illuminated in the rear-view mirror by a passing vehicle, Seunghyun recognises Seungri, and they make eye-contact. Seungri has that familiar smirk on his face, the previous discomfort all gone. Seunghyun suddenly wishes he never re-gained his consciousness.

‘You’ll take up your Headman’s work, Mino will help you with learning the ropes in the area’ Seungri passes the order, ‘You will come to the monthly meetings and make the necessary reports. I look forward to seeing you there’. The smirk curves more and Seunghyun feels like throwing up again, the anxiety catching up to him.

 The Dragon looks on all this with a small smile. ‘My little panda, all grown up’ The Dragon coos at Seungri, this time the emotion behind it is not fake, but playful. Seungri looks back briefly and abashedly smiles at his hyung.

Seunghyun feels like he is witnessing a private moment that he shouldn’t be a part of. He turns his head to look out of the window. He seems to be in an area somewhere near his apartment, an half an hour walk, give or take a few minutes. He wants out, desperately. But he doesn’t know whether asking to be let go would be too disrespectful, the right etiquette being “to be dismissed”.   

He looks at The Dragon and then at Seungri, trying to decide who to ask. His eye catches on The Dragon’s stilettoes in the light of another car, _pretty toes._ The dragon notices Seunghyun’s gaze and stares back at him. Seunghyun notices this a little too late, he quickly averts his gaze to the city outside his window again. This whole silent encounter further urges Seunghyun to ask to leave.

‘Seunghyun-ssi, do you know where high heels originally came from?’ The Dragon asks, Seunghyun shakes his head to show a ‘no’. ‘Does he not talk at all?’ This question is directed at Seungri, to which he shrugs with a lazy smile, eyes on the road. Seunghyun feels like he is a mouse, a mere play thing between these two powerful men, and his only fate is to end up dead. He decides he doesn’t want to go down without a fight, it might hurt him only more but at least he will have his dignity intact.

He gathers his voice and carefully utters a ‘No, I don’t’ which seems to take both the men by surprise. The Dragon looks at him with a new found interest.

‘What a deep, beautiful voice’ The Dragon compliments him flirtatiously, leaning in a little towards the newly appointed Headman. Seunghyun swallows loudly while looking at his lap. ‘So you don’t know the answer then? Well let me tell you’ Seunghyun feels like The Dragon is going to talk from history again, bring back something he values from the past. The last time this happened, Seunghyun had a panic attack and fainted like a dame in distress. _I hope the Headman is dead_ , Seunghyun thinks all of a sudden. He does not feel all that great about the information about to be divulged. ‘They were made in the past especially for people of a particular profession, you know?’ The Dragon asks, rhetorically

 _Hookers?_ Seunghyun wonders briefly. He glances at the rear-view mirror again and meets Seungri’s eyes. He looks thoroughly entertained.

‘Butchers’ The Dragon says with a sultry laugh ‘so that the blood wouldn’t get in their feet’

  


	5. Meetings

Three weeks pass uneventfully. Seunghyun fully immerses himself in the work he is instructed to do, forcibly stopping himself from thinking about _things_. Unfortunately, Seunghyun’s nightmares are beyond his control. Therefore what, or for that matter who, he contains in his conscious mind visits him at night.

Mino follows him like a shadow, corrects him over his shoulder and keeps an eye on Seunghyun’s every move. Initially Seunghyun is slightly irritated but he slowly warms up to his instruction. Seunghyun wonders how long the kid has been involved with the Yongseongyeog. The work comes easy to Seunghyun, his previous experience coming into use. He mostly just checks accounts, looks at the quality of liquor and food served, and does some supervising here and there.

Mino also accompanies him on most drug deals. The dealers, from what Seunghyun understands, are paranoid of new people. They would not be welcoming of a change in their large scale buyer, and that too a young Headman. Supervision in the flesh service the club arranges for special guests is another thing which is brought under Seunghyun’s jurisdiction. He makes many frequent trips to brothels during the day, for selection and delegation of work.

His employees are accepting of his orders, nobody steps out of line in the span of the three weeks. The untimely death of their previous Headman looms large over their heads. Seunghyun naturally fears an instance of rebellion among his employees, where he will be forced to brutally punish someone. Blood will have to be drawn or he will be deemed inefficient. 

The end of the month meeting is scheduled. Seunghyun despises having to meet Seungri, him being a direct reminder of the _things_ he wants to forget. He prepares for an entire day, his accounts spick and span for presentation, his reports graphed out and ideas for new ventures all clearly planned.

On the day of the meeting, Seunghyun waits in the car, for the text with the location to come. The car had been a gift from the organisation in lieu to the work he did to out the previous Headman and his consequent promotion. The music playing in the car is some generic instrumental piece, it does nothing to calm his nerves. When his phone in the central console blinks, Seunghyun sighs and opens his messaging app.

**Ramada Encore. Conference room.**

The name of the hotel surprises Seunghyun, he had no knowledge that this one came under the reign of The Dragon. He puts the car in reverse, and drives out of the parking lot. He gets to the hotel under a quarter of an hour.

Seunghyun doesn’t stop at the entrance of the hotel, where the chauffeurs wait to take the cars to park, but the directly heads for the underground parking of the hotel. After parking, Seunghyun steps out of the car and looks up to see a surveillance camera right above the pillar beside which his car is parked. He feels watched by someone. He closes the door a little forcibly, and runs a hand down the lapels of the blazer he is wearing while staring at his reflection on the glass of the window of the driver seat.

Seunghyun takes the elevator, the bell boy who mans it, pales when he mutters where he wants to go. Seunghyun remembers the last time he was in a high-end hotel, an uncontrollable shiver runs down his spine at the memories which inevitably rushes in. He is now fully accepting of the fact that he has no control over the triggers he has developed in the recent past, yet their assault is nothing less than brutal. The elevator ascends to the 9th floor and Seunghyun steps out. He mentally checks whether he has all his reports in his file. Seunghyun was averse to the idea of carrying a suitcase like his predecessor. When he turns the corner, he is met with the sight of Mino waiting at the door of the conference room.

‘Were you waiting for me?’ Seunghyun asks. Mino looks up from his Blackberry and smiles at him. Seunghyun, with how inaccessible he is as a person, has somehow gained Mino’s affection. In all his loneliness, Seunghyun has not been able to reach out to Mino yet though. He badly wants to sit down with Mino and have a few drinks, ask him what he does outside the organisation. But despite the obviously mutual feeling of fondness, the nature of their work interferes. Seunghyun knows very well that Mino will put a bullet in his head without a second thought if Seungri so wishes.

‘Waiting for you, hyung?’ Mino says in a taunting voice. The ‘hyung’ part is a new development, merely a week old. Seunghyun is thankful for this at least. Unusual as it was, Mino had no need to call Seunghyun ‘hyung’, as he is of a higher rank in the organisation than Seunghyun is. Their conversations have been progressively becoming less formal. ‘Can’t let you fuck up today’ Mino says cockily. Seunghyun smiles at that. ‘Let the babysitting begin’ Mino whisper-shouts while imitating a WWE host, when Seunghyun gets near to him. Seunghyun guffaws at his antics as Mino opens the double door to the Conference room. They are the first people to get there.

After Seunghyun takes his seat, Mino leaves abruptly mentioning some work that he has to look into all while looking into his blackberry. The other Headmen file in one by one, some of the later ones rushing in. Seungri is known for being sharply punctual. A few of these headmen look familiar from that horrible night Seunghyun had in the church. Some of them are talking among themselves and some gives him pointed looks. After what he is been through the past month, a few hostile looks directed at him does not faze him the least.

Seungri does not make an appearance at 12:00 when the meeting was scheduled to start. The headmen all look at each other to see whether any of them know what is going on. Seunghyun remembers Seungri never being late for any of the meetings he had been called in for. At 12:15 all the Headmen are quietly talking among themselves, their collective sound becoming much like a swarm of bees buzzing. Seunghyun feels a little irritated that he knows no one here to talk to, after Mino having abandoned him. Another five minutes pass, and the Headmen become progressively louder.

The doors slam open and The Dragon walks in. Mino follows, holding the iPad that Seungri usually brings with him to these sessions. Everybody startles and gets on their feet to greet the boss, and bows deeply to him in respect while exchanging subtle glances. Seunghyun’s nerves are on fire, he was not anticipating such a turn in events. He notices slight tremors in his own hands as everyone takes their seats. He sits on the edge of his chair, looking at his hands.

The dragon, after he seats himself at the centre of the table, clears his throat. There is heavy silence in the room. ‘Why are you not starting already?’ The Dragon asks in a calm voice, the barely contained irritation behind the words evident. Seunghyun wonders how everything this man says is absolutely terrifying to him, always. The headmen all arrange their papers in a haste and the first one sitting to the right of The Dragon clears his throat. The dragon turns his eyes on him.

‘I am the Headman of sector 11’ says the Headman. The Dragon nods as if asking him to carry on. ‘Should we do this how we usually do it, sir?’ he asks quietly.

‘Is there any other way to do it?’ The dragon counter questions. There is a small smile on Mino’s face. Seunghyun is intently staring at his fingers and then switches to the patterns of the polished wood on the large teak round table.

‘No, sir’ The Headman, replies the volume of his voice dipping even lower again. Seunghyun feels bad for the man who is speaking up. He understands how this might probably be the first time in a long time that The dragon has turned up for such a meeting. From the time when he joined and from the time before, Seunghyun has only heard of people ever talking about how Seungri managed this crisis and that crisis. He has never heard of The Dragon’s direct involvement with the organisation’s business management wing. He wonders  _Why is HE here, then?_

‘Then why don’t you start the meeting and not waste any more of my valuable time?’ The Dragon drawls, while seemingly picking the dirt between his nails. Seunghyun has not directly looked at The Dragon yet, he fears his own unpredictable reaction in having to see the antagonist of most of his nightmares in person again.

The meeting thus starts with the sector 11 Headman giving his report and his ideas for future plans. The Dragon looks around at the room, looks at the ceiling for some time and seems generally deeply disinterested. Mino seems to be taking notes from his chair near the entrance laterally behind The Dragon. By the third headman’s report, The Dragon has pulled the account sheets from under the sector 11 Headman’s hands and has started drawing patterns on it with a ball pen. Seunghyun who has still not looked at The Dragon directly, observes the patterns which he draws. He finds himself extremely surprised by the flowers and other pretty patterns there. There is also a peace symbol which occurs repetitively with one of the lines missing.

The chance to report rolls from Headman to Headman with no intervention from The Dragon at all. If it was Seungri in the chair, he would have criticised things meticulously and given suggestions to improve the future plans presented. Seunghyun suddenly somehow knows that this sort of a conference room meeting must have been something which Seungri proposed and formulated. This whole setting does not suit the man who is currently drawing another flower pattern on a sheet with numbers and valuable information on it, that the Headman must have carefully collected and prepared for the meeting.

When Seunghyun’s turn finally happens, Mino tenses. Seunghyun hopes with all his might that he doesn’t slip up and make a mistake, which he knows will only feed into The Dragon’s idea of how much power he holds over him.

Seunghyun clears his throat and begins. ‘I-I am the Headman of s-sector 7’ Seunghyun stutters through his speech. The Dragon’s head snaps up from his doodles. Seunghyun takes a breath and lifts his eyes from the wooden table to look at The Dragon for the first time since he’s walked into the room. Now that Seunghyun sees the full picture, he is in absolute shock.

The Dragon looks so different from what Seungri would have looked like in that chair. He doesn’t even look like himself. There is none of that shirtless suit business that Seunghyun saw last time. He is wearing something other than the usual black too. _Pink?_ Seunghyun registers in his bafflement. The Dragon is clad in a hot pink sweater which is two sizes big on him. His hair is now Sand blond and parted, reaching his eyebrows. The sweater is nearly sliding off one of his shoulders, baring another one of his tattoos, the script of which is not clear enough to Seunghyun from his distance. He wonders how this man has no fear about what people think of him.

In his shock, Seunghyun forgets where he is and why he is there. The Dragon’s face slowly lights up in the first smile the men around him has the misfortune to see that day. Mino looks visibly upset with the progression of events.

‘Ah… Seunghyun-ssi’ The Dragon says like he has just recognised who the dumbstruck man before him is. ‘What do we owe the pleasure of another one of your recurrent silences?’  

Seunghyun clears his dry throat. ‘Sorry sir’ he bows his head to his boss in apology and prepares to restart. Seunghyun opens his file and thanks the heavens for making pointers to help himself speak. He does not look up at The Dragon at all while he reads out his pointers regarding the accounts. When that is done and he moves on towards the future plans, he looks up at Mino briefly, just to know whether he is doing fine. His nerves are being eaten away slowly and Mino’s little nod of encouragement takes him a long way.

All through Seunghyun’s speech, The Dragon looks at him intently, once in while that face alights in a small smirk too. Seunghyun keeps talking, absolutely unaware of The Dragon’s attention, successful in his attempt to dislocate his focus from him.

When Seunghyun finishes his talk, he lets out a sigh tiredly. There is brief silence, and then The Dragon starts clapping. ‘Wah, I’ve never heard Seunghyun-ssi talk so much. Seems like our new Headman is all good already.’ He lets out a breezy laugh. Everybody is frozen in their seats, unable to comprehend this new turn in events. ‘Let’s stop for today’ saying this he gets up from his chair and stretches like a cat. This reveals a strip of his stomach, right when Seunghyun looks up to see what The Dragon will do next. He averts his eyes to the wooden surface again.

‘But-’ the Headman from sector 11 quietly protests. Seunghyun snaps his head to look up the audacity of the Headman. He is sure the man has a death wish.

The Dragon snorts loudly and which effectively cuts the Headman off. Seunghyun reluctantly shifts his gaze to The Dragon to find that the man’s eyes are on him. ‘I’ve seen everything I came to see, Headman’ The Dragon says while looking at Seunghyun intently, like he’s talking to him and him alone.  

 


	6. Antics

**2 days before the meeting.**

‘What?’ Seungri exclaimed, finally putting away his iPad to the end of the dining table and looking at Jiyong properly for the first time that morning. Seungri had come around for breakfast to Jiyong’s as usual, and he was sitting at his dining table eating the last of the Froot loops that Jiyong buys especially for him. Seungri is one of the few people in his life who is used to his antics, Jiyong would say. Yet he looks absolutely baffled with Jiyong’s current decision.

‘Did you not hear me the first time, Seungri?’ Jiyong asked Seungri, biting at his nails nonchalantly. His nails are never clipped, only bitten. Another one of his self-comforting habits that’s stayed with him even after the end of that horrible era in Jiyong’s life. This was one of the constants, like Seungri, in his life. The last of the few he ever had. ‘These days I think there is something wrong with your hearing or your brain, you constantly seem to have a problem understanding what I say to you. Or is it that you’ve become disrespectful enough to ignore me’ Jiyong continues with that slight pout which shows when he is bordering on irritation.

‘But hyung, you’ve never attended one of these meetings before. You’ve always hated them so much from the beginning. Why now? Are you not content with the way I’m doing things?’ Seungri was now looking at him intently. Jiyong feels really guilty for needing to carry out his selfish whims, especially at the cost of triggering Seungri’s damned insecurity.

‘Seungri, don’t think like that. You know there is nothing of that sort. Do I need to remind you of all the times you’ve been better at the business than I could ever be?’ Jiyong admonished him in a softer tone. _How do I tell him that I just need to step out of the apartment?_ Seungri was looking at Jiyong, expecting a more elaborate reply. ‘I just need to…’

Recently, Jiyong has been feeling very lonely in his large, pristine apartment. He has his fair share of fun, goes out clubbing, and has people and money at his beck and call. But yet, he feels like his apartment is suffocating, especially with how he is always indoors. To add to that he feels that he is not doing anything substantial anymore. He knows he removed himself deliberately, at least three years ago, from the tip of Yongseongyeog. After things had finally settled down, Jiyong had taken this decision for his own mental peace. It was much like a voluntary retirement. With Seungri being more efficient than he is, he only had to make a limited amount of appearances to run the show. Yet the whole state of affairs right now leaves him with nearly nothing to do all day.

Sure, Seungri visits from time to time, to talk to Jiyong about this and that. Once in a while they even sit down and have a few drinks. But Seungri himself is of an entirely different character than Jiyong. Where he values companionship when he doubts himself, Seungri actively proves his own doubts wrong. In comparison to Seungri’s social skills, Jiyong is more of a wallflower. Because of all this he feels it will be really hard to talk to Seungri about what he feels.

Seungri suddenly sighs and rubs his forehead like he is done with Jiyong’s antics. ‘Is this about that new Headman?’

 _Who?_ Jiyong wonders, his face scrunching up in concentration to recollect a face to connect to Seungri’s words. And then it clicks for him. _A-ah the new Headman._ ‘Yeah’ Jiyong dejectedly mutters, for the lack of a better explanation. It is a split second decision, he simply does not have the energy to think this through or sit Seungri down to explain things to him properly.

‘Hyung, have you burned through all the men in the brothels? Oh wait, I am guessing, yes. With your reputation, that should have been a piece a cake.’ He sighs again. Jiyong thinks these days Seungri sighs a lot, and quite a lot of them are directed at him, ‘Hyung, if you want this one, just summon him here. Don’t compromise yourself at a meeting. As it is the Headmen have a notion that you’re _flaming_ gay’ Seungri says in his school-teacher tone, despite himself Jiyong smiles.

 _Oh how the tables have turned_ Jiyong thinks, reminiscing about the times years ago when he met the 16-year-old kid who came to him asking to be a dealer to pay his father’s debts off. Seungri has come a long way from that nervous teenager, the man who sits before him is a proud businessman, the best partner-in-crime Jiyong could ask for.

Jiyong’s smile seems to fire up Seungri even more. ‘Oh, that wouldn’t be enough of a chase now, will it? The thrill of the kill or whatever’ Seungri directs at him tauntingly.

Jiyong remains silent while his smile grows bigger. He has no reason to be angry with anything Seungri has said. All that has been stated is the truth. He’s burned through men faster than the Marlboros he smoke and some of the difficult ones he’s chased and hunted down. ‘The thrill of the kill’ as Seungri said is exciting but playing hunter and victim has also grown drab on him. The game only appears to be repetitive and boring to him now.

He looks at the table, looking a little dejected, playing his role in Seungri’s monologue. This is something that Jiyong does a lot, let Seungri talk like the chatterbox he is and form all the conclusions he wants on his own. At the end of the day when Jiyong gets into trouble, he’ll just blame it on Seungri, pointing it out that he gave him all these ideas he didn’t have before.

Now that he actually thinks about the new Headman he seems worthwhile to look into. The guy, Jiyong knows is shit scared of him so there is no point in a chase, as the submission will be too easy and too soon. What Jiyong is more interested in is the occasional fire which burns in his eyes, his small acts of defiance in spite of the fear. Call him a sadist but Jiyong feels an itch to snuff that fire out. The more he thinks about it, the more this venture interests him. If asked whether he feels sexually attracted to the fainting damsel in the church, he honestly doesn’t. He likes his men masculine and all macho, so that he can break into them slowly.

Jiyong still hasn’t said a word. Seungri gets up from the table with the bowl he’d wiped clean despite his obvious frustration with Jiyong. He leaves the bowl at the sink and proceeds towards Jiyong’s refrigerator. Jiyong clears his throat loudly.

‘What?’ Seungri asks him bitingly, turning to face him holding the fridge open. Jiyong knows then, that Seungri has accepted his decision to head the monthly meeting.

‘Do the dishes’ Jiyong says while holding his bowl up to him. Seungri breaks out in an exasperated laugh and bangs the door of the refrigerator close.

‘Hyung, it’s not like you cooked something for me. You just threw the cereal and the milk in a bowl’ Seungri banters back, the tension in his face now all gone.

‘Do you know how much effort it takes to lift my tender hands to pull out the cereal box from the cupboard? Do you know how heavy the milk carton was?’ Jiyong nearly whines back at Seungri. ‘Not all of us are Jiu-Jitsu champions, you know?’

There is a fond smile on Seungri’s face. ‘Hyung, how many times do I call you in a week to come with me to the gym? And am I not the guest here? Where is your hospitality, hyung?’ Seungri has that taunting tone again, but this time it is not meant to hurt.

‘Aish… who’s older here? Me or you? Go do the fucking dishes, you brat’ Jiyong spits out. Seungri grabs his bowl from his hands, a little too forcibly and stomps back to the sink. Jiyong pushes back his chair and settles his legs at the top of the dining table. _Who’s the boss now, Bitch?_ He thinks in glee.

There is a peaceful silence as Seungri slowly scrubs the bowls clean. Jiyong lets his head fall back on the top of the chair and looks up at the ceiling, cherishing the moment. He likes having someone around. Likes hearing the sounds that another human creates in the apartment, it makes him feel like he has company even when though the person doesn’t necessarily talk to him or interact with him.

‘Hyung’ Seungri says, his voice lacking all the previous playfulness. He breaks Jiyong out of his peaceful thoughts. Jiyong looks at him, Seungri’s back is still turned to the sink. ‘I just don’t want you to take unnecessary risks. You know that, right?’

‘Hmm… I know’ Jiyong says in a soft voice. He knew that the conversation they were about to have is important for Seungri.

‘It’s just… I don’t like what they say about you. I hate that you have to hear it’ Seungri sighs. His head is turned down. ‘You’ve suffered too much as it is. I just want you to take rest and enjoy the fruits of all your hard work’

‘You’re being over-protective Seungri. I am not made of glass.’ Jiyong replies. ‘Don’t worry too much, love. I’ll be fine’ he knows he should have said that he _is_ fine, but he’s not. Not now at least.

‘I just don’t want you to change the way you dress or behave, hyung. Just because a few sleazy old men cannot take a jibe at their fragile masculinity you shouldn’t have to suffer’ Seungri says drying off his hands in the towel on the counter. ‘Let’s just try and stay out of their sight as much as possible. I know they have a pretty good idea that you are gay. But why give that fire more fuel. I really like the ways things are going right now. I don’t want any rebellions, hyung. For your peace and mine’

Jiyong understands Seungri’s logical point of view. He shouldn’t be stirring up more trouble. When he had first started out, he followed the rules diligently. Everything about his appearance oozed masculinity. He was extra careful not to let word out about his nightly guests. Always had a few women around to keep his beard intact. But now that he has things under his control, Jiyong doesn’t want to play by the rules. Seungri understands this change in Jiyong’s attitude and lets him be but they both know prodding anything too much will inevitably get a reaction. And Jiyong _knows_ Seungri will never police him like this unless absolutely necessary.

‘I know’ Jiyong says a little dejectedly. He takes his feet off the table and leans forward to put his head in his hands. There is a moment of silence, a weight on both their chests. Then things switch up again, when Seungri turns to him with a renewed smile.

‘The headman has a clean slate, you know’ Seungri says to him, now leaning back on the counter. All the seriousness and the tension in the previous conversation drains out of them both.

‘Does he now?’ Jiyong shoots back. He has a small smile playing on his lips.

‘Yeah, never spilt any blood at all’ Seungri replies nonchalantly. He clearly knows what strings to pull to get Jiyong interested in the game. But what he doesn’t know is that this time the game Jiyong wants to play is of a totally different kind than what he anticipates.

Jiyong knows what Seungri is aiming at, and despite that being not what he wants, plays along. ‘Well now, that’s interesting’ he replies, equally nonchalantly.

‘I have to leave now, hyung. No more time for our chit-chat’ Seungri says with some sass in his tone. He walks towards the living area and Jiyong follows him out. Seungri picks up his blazer which he left on the coat rack and puts it on. ‘Oh, and hyung I just can’t be absent for the meeting like that. We’ll have to come up with an excuse’

Jiyong immediately knows where this is going. ‘Ah… Do we now?’ Jiyong replies absent-mindedly, seeing that his participation in this conversation wouldn’t be really making a difference.  

‘Yes, of course. How about I take a short break and visit Japan?’ Seungri asks, while avoiding looking at Jiyong directly and looking through the pockets of his blazer as if he is searching for something.

‘And I’ll pay for it?’ Jiyong asks. It was his turn to sigh in defeat.

‘Well only if you want to. After all I am only going to Japan so hyung can go to the meeting and chase that Headman’ Seungri replies, still not giving him eye-contact, his searching-in-the-blazer-for-something-probably-nonexistent-act becoming a little too old now.

‘Yeah? Cool then’ Jiyong says giving in too soon this time.

Seungri looks up with a 100-watt smile. ‘You will?’ he asks like a child who’s just been promised to be taken to Disneyland. He suddenly walks forward and hugs Jiyong. ‘Thank you, hyung, thank you’

 _What is with all this drama?_ Jiyong wonders. It’s not like Seungri is not loaded enough to buy an flight headed to Japan, then why take Jiyong’s money? True, Jiyong is richer than him, getting a bigger share from both their legal and illegal business profits but Seungri is right below him on that food chain.

And then he remembers that conversation he’s had with Seungri when they were both high on some premium exotic marijuana Seungri acquired from a French dealer. He remembers Seungri telling him how he enjoys it when Jiyong spends money on him, and that this makes him feel like he’s family to Jiyong than a mere business partner. _Well, this kid is all the family I will ever have_ Jiyong thinks in retrospect of that conversation.   

  


	7. Shall we go shopping?

**On the day of the meeting**

Jiyong wakes up around 6 am feeling cold in his warm bed. This is nothing new. He’s never let the men he meets stay for more than the time that he is engaged with them. That’s routine, the usual. It’s only recently he’s been feeling lonely from this arrangement. And this makes him feel cold. He’s tried letting a few stay but the resulting awkwardness was never worth it.

Jiyong sits up in bed and reaches for the cigarettes he’s left at the bedside table. He opens the case and puts one between his lips. The lighter flickers on and he feels the warm smoke seeping into his lungs. _At least my insides feel warm now._ He lies back on the bed again and the first cigarette’s nicotine gives him the lightest of highs.

Seungri had left for Japan the night before. He had looked a little too jubilant as he opened the drawer in Jiyong’s closet where he kept his watches and cards. He had taken one of Jiyong’s black cards and slid it into his wallet, all while smiling wickedly. Jiyong knows he will put quite a noticeable dent in his current balance, but he can’t bring himself to care a tad bit. He just hopes Seungri will be able to enjoy the vacation he so deserves.

By 7 Jiyong has a plate filled with steaming toast and scrambled eggs. He feels a little content that the eggs are cooked right, a big accomplishment for him. The housemaid comes in once in a while to make him meals, which he microwaves later, and to clean the place. But Jiyong hates to have his space invaded by someone he is not familiar with. So the housemaid visits are all when he is not at home. Despite the invasion of space, what forces him to keep this arrangement running is because he really likes how even though when he leaves things all over the place and dirty, he returns to find the place spick and span. He puts on a pullover and takes his plate to the balcony to eat his breakfast. This whole routine calms him down, he is not much of an early riser but somehow this morning he is not tired and wary like usual.

And right then, his phone starts ringing from where he left it on the kitchen counter. He groans and leaves his plate on the coffee table in the balcony, to go inside again. It’s Seungri. Jiyong annoyingly wonders how he will have one peaceful moment, and then Seungri will swoop in and spoil it.

‘Hyung’ Seungri shouts through the phone. There’s too much noise coming in from the Seungri’s side that Jiyong has to hold his phone a little away from his ear. ‘Hyung, I haven’t told Mino that I am away. The meeting’s information will be send out as usual. Call Mino, he’ll tell you what to do’ Seungri shouts from wherever the hell he is, his voice breaking from the effort. Jiyong is slightly annoyed that Seungri is shouting and doesn’t want this to ruin his morning good vibes. He’s got the information that Seungri wanted to relay and doesn’t want to tolerate the noise anymore, so he says a deliberately quiet ‘yes’ and hangs up. He knows Seungri will be annoyed but _yeah, whatever._

Jiyong knows the meeting is at mid-noon and he should call Mino as soon as possible to arrange things. But he’s heard word that Mino has grown closer to one particular Headman. He doesn’t like it when the shock value, which he derives when he shows up somewhere unannounced, to be diminished. Especially on a particular scaredy-cat Headman’s face. He decides not to contact Mino right away. He finishes the breakfast in his sweet time and starts playing some soothing instrumental music in his bedroom. He waltzes around a little, swaying to the music and starts looking through his closet for something to wear.

His closet is nearly as big as his bedroom. It looks better furnished than any other part of his house too. Jiyong has always had a thing for outfits. With how much money he makes now, the size of his closet and the number and quality of its contents have grown manifold. To add to that Jiyong’s attires have progressively become unconventional in the last few years. He runs his hands through all the blazers which are hung up but comes up with nothing satisfying for the day. He realises that he doesn’t feel like dressing up in preppy-manly looking clothes today, it simply doesn’t suit his mood.

He gravitates towards the cupboard where he keeps his lighter winter-wear and spots a pink sweater he’s never worn before. He shrugs out of his pyjama shirt and pulls the sweater over his head all while climbing the two steps to the next landing in his closet and heading to the mirror. His triple mirror’s overhead lighting goes on as it senses his approach. The sweater feels comfy and looks good coupled with his newly bleached hair and black plaid pyjama pants. He decides that this will be his outfit, _no need to please anyone today_. He lights another cigarette as he sits on the stool which faces the mirrors.

Jiyong zones out and when he notices the time next, it is nearly 12. He’s still in no rush, after all he is meeting his own men. He summons his on-call driver and makes his way to the ground floor of his apartment building. There are two men in black suits standing at the door. They bow in respect as Jiyong passes. These men are part of his ground force. They are his personal guards and take care of his security at all times. Their base is in his apartment building itself, all of them occupying rooms there. Jiyong of course has the top floor all to himself, and has re-furbished it into the penthouse it is now. While in the car Jiyong calls Mino to ask the location of the meeting. He having never attending one of those, doesn’t receive the messages for the location. Mino picks up in the second ring.

‘Sir?’ he asks into the phone. The kid has always been one of the most faithful. He was one of Seungri’s finds, and Seungri always had a knack in finding the best people.

‘Ah Mino. Are you at the monthly-meeting location?’ Jiyong asks. The morning calm still very evident in his voice.

‘Yes, sir. We are about to begin in another 5 minutes or so. We are waiting for the Panda’ Mino answers back. Using the coded language is for safety if their calls are being taped. Jiyong wonders whether Mino was not informed of their recent purchase. The Dragon owns Busan police now.

‘Well, Seungri is out of town regarding some urgent business. So he won’t be making it’ Jiyong replies while lighting another cigarette.

‘Oh, I was not informed of this, Sir’ Mino says quietly. _Well he was not supposed to be informed_ Jiyong thinks. ‘Should I cancel the meeting, then?’ Mino asks after a moment. Now Jiyong’s got him exactly where he needed him.

‘Nah, aren’t these meetings really important? If we miss one of these wont the Headmen think we are being neglectful?’ Jiyong asks, tone sickly-sweet. Before Mino can answer he continues. ‘I am free today. I’ll head the meeting’ Jiyong says as if he just made the decision, because there was no other choice.

‘Yes, sir. That would be great’ Mino replies, his doubt regarding this new turn of events clear in his voice. Jiyong is sure the kid will not call him out on the pre-made decision.

‘So where is this meeting happening, again?’ Jiyong drawls, pleased that things are going his way.

‘Ramada Encore, sir. I’ll have things ready when you get here. Should I inform the Headmen that you’ll be running late?’ Mino asks as if he is treading on ice. Jiyong knows why, he is known for being temperamental and unpredictable and Mino is more comfortable dealing with a level-headed Seungri.

‘Why, no. Aren’t they my men after all? Are they not loyal enough to stay and wait if Seungri or I are running late?’ Jiyong’s tone borders on annoyed knowingly. This tones scares people in regard to what is to come if he gets angry.

‘Yes, sir' a pause 'I’ll wait in the lobby’ Mino replies and Jiyong cuts the call with a serene smile. _What a beautiful day_.

When his Benz turns into the gates of Ramada, Jiyong receives a text. It’s Seungri again. _I thought if I sent him away I’ll get some peace, nope. He just keeps haunting me._ Jiyong thinks as he opens the text.

**Don’t kill anyone today, hyung. Just take a deep breath and think about being in the Himalayas. <3**

Jiyong huffs. If Jiyong has a foul, murderous temper Seungri’s is fouler and lethal. It’s just, they have different tolerance levels. He pockets his phone as he steps out of the car and puts on his shades. Mino approaches him while he pulls the sweater straight.

‘Welcome, sir’ Mino says while he bows deeply to him. He holds out Seungri’s official iPad to Jiyong, which he waves away. Jiyong feels that Mino’s professionalism is extremely commendable, regarding how he has acquired Seungri’s iPad for Jiyong’s use in no time. Jiyong walks in, the staff of the hotel momentarily freezes and bows at the sight of him. Jiyong smiles lightly, it’s nice to hold that sort of power over people. He heads for the elevator, Mino following him closely.

‘What does Seungri usually do at these meetings?’ Jiyong asks, casually.

‘Review accounts and look through future plans, sir’ Mino replies. His words, precise and tone, professional. He’s been trained well.

‘You know the procedures?’ Jiyong asks. Jiyong knows he is not experienced enough to head such a technical meeting by himself as of now. He’ll have to learn the ropes slowly, in the meantime his business shouldn’t suffer. It’s best to ask Mino to look at things closely when Seungri is not around considering, how Mino is deeply involved with Seungri’s work.

‘Yes, sir. I’ll take care of things’ Mino replies. Jiyong’s likes how he doesn’t have to spell out things to Mino. _I’ll make sure this kid gets his bonuses right._

The men in black at the door of the conference room startles to attention when he walks into the corridor. They open the door in a rush and Jiyong flinches slightly. He composes himself smoothly and moves towards the head of the table. His eyes zeroes in on his target and he smiles. He expects good entertainment today.

When he counters the sector 11 Headman, it is just out of habit. Seungri’s been too polite to them and Jiyong is just not the kind who appreciates crap like that. Mino smiles, as he is of the same opinion as The Dragon. Mino has always thought his immediate boss is all for non-violence, but you can’t be a mafia boss and Gandhi at the same time.

Jiyong zones out as soon as the men begin talking numbers. Jiyong knows Mino will be making a report for Seungri to review. Nothing is in loss here. By the third Headman, Jiyong is absolutely bored. He slightly regrets coming to one of these meetings to hunt, when he could have caught the prey from his sofa. He pulls a few papers with complicated numbers from under the hands of the sector 11 Headman and starts doodling on them. He smiles remembering how he last did this probably in school.

He occasionally glances at one particular Headman, who seems to be entranced by the teak table. He is equally pleased and annoyed by this. Jiyong likes the fear and the submission in his bent head. In fact, he gets off of it. But at the same time it would have been nice if he looked up once in a while, for a change from the boring events in the conference room, just for Jiyong’s entertainment.

When he hears his deep voice, Jiyong’s head naturally snaps up. He feels a crick in his neck, _I must be getting old._ He stutters and looks at Jiyong. His eyes widen like a deer caught in headlights. _Cute_ Jiyong thinks, Jiyong looks on in interest as Seunghyun low-key checks him out, all while losing his words for a full 2 minutes. Jiyong smiles, liking the reaction he draws. This is what he came here for, the fear in Seunghyun’s eyes excites Jiyong to no end. Jiyong sits up a little in his chair and dishes out one of his classic insults. Seunghyun says sorry and he restarts, this time strictly keeping his eyes on the papers before him. Jiyong regally looks on at the effort it takes for the Headman to keep speaking. Seunghyun looks up briefly, but his gaze is on Mino who’s seated behind Jiyong, and Jiyong feels a little jealous. But this seems to loosen Seunghyun up after whatever encouragement he receives, from Mino. When he is done, Jiyong claps just to get those scared eyes back on him.

Jiyong is done with this meeting and wants to leave now, but he hasn’t seen enough, hasn’t had enough entertainment for the day. He remembers Seungri’s warning asking him to keep a low profile. Despite that he gets up, calling an end to the meeting.

The sector 11 Headman, as if on cue, protests. Jiyong has a good mind to fetch the gun he knows is hitched in Mino’s belt to put a bloody hole in the man’s head. But today seems to be one of those days that Seungri’s face and his words keep popping up in his head. _Himalayas._ When he answers the annoying Headman’s question he purposefully looks at Seunghyun. His face is comical when he is in fear and Jiyong’s smirk grows wider.

Jiyong turns and leaves the room in large strides and Mino dutifully follows him out. He signals for the men at the door to follow him. At the elevator, Jiyong turns to Mino before he can enter after him. Mino stops abruptly in his tracks, reeling back a little in the inertia.

‘I’ve decided to go shopping and I want someone to hold my bags. Bring me sector 7’ Jiyong says as removes his foot from the elevator door censors. They close and Jiyong looks at his gleeful face. _Am I enjoying this a little too much?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the delays. I'm going through my end-semester rush. Things will clear up in a fortnight or so. Then I'll be more free and the updates will happen faster.


	8. Shopping Gone Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check the tags.

‘What?’ Seunghyun spits out, while he chokes on air and his own spit. He tries to cough out a non-existent something caught in his throat. _Panic_ his brain provides. Mino looks unamused and absolutely serious at the revelation he’s just made to Seunghyun. His demeanour seems to be that of a man who has accepted the inevitable. ‘He wants me to what?’ Seunghyun asks in a steadier voice, as the initial attack of panic surpasses.

‘Carry his bags while he shops’ Mino replies chillingly. He knows where his loyalties lie, despite his new friendships. He definitely cannot help Seunghyun out of this one, no matter how affectionate he is towards his newest hyung.  Everyone knows, The Dragon gets his way, always.

Seunghyun bends and puts his hands on his knees, he wheezes for a while. Then he starts blabbering. This whole thing would have looked endearing to Mino had it had not been the slaughterhouse he was sending Seunghyun to. Mino, with his close ties to Yongseongyeog and Seungri, knew of The Dragon and his men. With his knowledge of the workings of the organisation, it would be surprising if he didn’t. And Mino had never minded the sexuality of The Dragon or anyone for that matter, he’s always been open to differences.

What Mino was uncomfortable with was how he knew details he didn’t want to. The brothels were all under his overlook, it has been ever since he started to work for Seungri. They were the highest earning enterprises in the organisation and nothing happens in them without his knowledge.

The Dragon has called out man after man for his use after the set of brothels fell into his hands from the rival mafia organisation, three years ago. Mino’s rise to be Seungri’s right man was recent, only a year and half after all. The men who Jiyong calls out, Mino heard, never comes back quite the same. They are never gone for more than 12 hours. But somehow, something about them came back  irreparably broken. These were some fine young men, some of them the highest earning in their respective brothels and experts in the field. But after The Dragon, they were reduced to lower ranks because of how dysfunctional they’ve become. Mino’s attention had been drawn to this due to the apparent drop in the revenue. He had brushed it off, _the boss must know what he is doing_ , Mino had thought. Until it came back to bite in in the rear, personally.

He was a little older than Mino and was one of the nicest human beings that Mino has ever happened to meet. He was equally smart and beautiful. This made him popular among patrons, both men and women. He was so popular that some of them even took him out just for dates and sponsored him when he was occasionally sick. Mino, on the other hand had liked him for how he could put everyone around him in ease, joke and mess about. This was a boon to Mino, who was in dire need of non-business conversation. Just like Seunghyun, he had just started off as a rookie manager in a brothel then. As Seunghyun panics more, Mino retreats into himself thinking about another hyung he’d lost to The Dragon’s games.

 _Jinwoo._ It’s been a long time since the name has crossed Mino’s mind. He’s put it away safely, to keep his sanity intact.

He had walked into Jinwoo’s apartment like he always had, uninvited, equipped with Jinwoo’s favourite fried chicken and wine. He’d known Jinwoo was home, having checked his schedule at the brothel. He left the chicken at the kitchen and had fetched two wine glasses. He carried the wine around while he loudly announced the alcohol and his presence, laughing at his own dumb puns and calling out Jinwoo’s name tauntingly, even louder. The apartment was unnaturally quiet, he should have sensed something was wrong.

What he came upon was an ajar bathroom door. In a little fear of Jinwoo having slipped in the bath, he pushed the door open to find something he’ll never be able to scrub off from his memory. The noise of the water drops from a faucet was falling into the full bathtub, making the sight before him eerie. Jinwoo was leaning back on one side. His pale skin contrasted with the red water, which lolled calmly around him. He looked at peace, but Mino was violently disturbed. The wine bottle fell on the white tiled floor, turning the floor too red. Mino knew from the ugly colour of the water that he’d lost him. He had seen one too many murders by then to know how many pints of blood to one should draw out to kill a human.

Seunghyun looked up at Mino from his crouched position, bringing his attention sharply back to the present. There was fear there and a plea for help. He was not as close to Seunghyun as he was to Jinwoo but he is not ready to lose another person. He has blamed himself for a long time after Jinwoo. He could have kept an eye on him. He could have been there for him after what The Dragon had done to him. Mino knows there is no stopping The Dragon but he could have done something, something for his hyung. He knows all the permutations and combinations for the end of this situation, seen all it play out. He knows Seunghyun is being drawn out like a prey into something which is out of his bounds, to grasp. None of these ends will come in favour of Seunghyun, but secretly at least, Mino decided to root for Seunghyun.  

‘Hyung, we don’t have much time. Let’s go downstairs’ Mino places a hand on Seunghyun’s waist and leads him to the elevator. When he’s pushed the button to call the elevator, he turns to Seunghyun. ‘I am going to brief you very quickly on a few things regarding The Dragon. Don’t ask questions, listen and follow.’

 

The air-conditioned sedan speeds through the highway and in the backseat of Seunghyun is sweating by the buckets. Mino had send him in his own car to the location that was specified by The Dragon’s driver, deeming that Seunghyun’s driving will be too slow. Mino’s driver had tried to make conversation to Seunghyun but his one-worded replies had eventually silenced the chirpy man. Now there is only a tensed silence in the car.

They are headed to some posh mall in Gangnam. Other than this detail Seunghyun hadn’t cared to ask anything. He feels like he is being led there for slaughter. _Why care where we are headed, it’s not like I have a choice?_ The Dragon had left soon after the meeting. Seunghyun was 30 minutes late and Mino’s driver was desperately trying to catch up, but the traffic won’t let up. Seunghyun’s not the type to get carsick usually, but the swift swerves and the speed is upsetting his stomach. His nerves add to the mix, making him want to hurl the sandwich that he had pushed down his throat before he was rushed into the car.

He mentally goes through the things Mino had put in pointers for him. Most of it was cryptic, the things being said having no context whatsoever. Seunghyun had just listened, giving no replies, just like he was asked to. It frustrated him, how he had no voice whatsoever in how things in his life went. But what could he have done? They roughly had 10 minutes and Mino had so many things to say. Seunghyun just wishes what he was told would save his head today.

 

Jiyong is seated in the spacious dressing room of a designer store in Gangnam. The manager of the store is flitting around with attendants in tow showing their best products to him, but he didn’t come here to look at clothes. What he came here to look at is still in a car coming from Busan to Seoul. Jiyong knows that here there are lesser eyes to pry on him here and that sits well with him, but this delay doesn’t. The designer who the clothes he is about to buy in bulk from, has even rushed in to greet him. He is talking to Jiyong about the quality of the fur on the sweater and how many animals were killed for it. Jiyong cannot care less.

He is not particularly pissed, if not a little irritated. His phone’s incessant ringing adds to this greatly, it’s Seungri. It is late enough in the evening for him to be shit drunk and call Jiyong on the phone to tell him of his undying love and loyalty. This is another one of Seungri’s routines when he is abroad. When Jiyong demands for an explanation the next day, the reply always has been _I missed you, hyung._ There are 8 missed calls already, Jiyong turns his phone off, not in the mood to listen to Seungri’s drunk blabber. He is too excited with a game he is about to play. Yet his target, his prey is still missing.

And like the old saying, all good things come to people who wait, Seunghyun jogs into the room, sweat pouring down his face soaking the collar of the white shirt, under the black blazer. Jiyong likes the visual, a lot. He waits for his eyes to fall on him.

As if prompted, Seunghyun searches the dressing room for The Dragon and his eyes fall on his target. The Dragon is still in the same hideous hot pink sweater, and Seunghyun realises he hadn’t noticed the pyjama pants before. The whole attire somehow has an elegance to it, which is absurd considering the different components of it. _He is the one who’s elegant_ Seunghyun’s brain supplies. What’s more ironic is how The Dragon is sitting with his legs up on a large pristine white sofa, which looks like it would cost Seunghyun’s earnings for a year. The whole visual makes The Dragon looks small and delicate, his folded legs and how he’s fit himself in a corner of the sofa adding to it. And yet there are people rushing about showing him various things, fussing over him and he holds a certain power over all of them. When Seunghyun’s eyes meet The Dragon’s, his vision narrows, making him feel like they only see each other.

The moment passes, the tension breaks and Seunghyun quickly averts his eyes. Not two minutes in, and Seunghyun has already broken one of the cardinal rules Mino mentioned. _Don’t make eye contact._ The fear settles in his stomach with renewed fervour, with the realisation of his grave mistake.

Jiyong had noticed how Seunghyun had run his eyes on him and his surroundings. It might have been Seunghyun checking him out. Or it might as well have been a sweep for security purposes. Jiyong cannot decide. What surprises him is how he doesn’t want to it be a security sweep. Jiyong has never felt bumped when someone did not find him attractive, he was too confident to ever have that kind of insecurity. Moreover the sheer power he possessed always saw to it that people acted like they cared, like they wanted him. Fake as it were, it never troubled Jiyong, having always thought that his power was part of his charm. But this time it didn’t feel like it, he wanted to play with something different than the power he held over people around. He rationalises with himself, deciding that it finishes the game a little too quickly. This line of thought muddles up Jiyong’s head for a moment, but he reminds himself of the game he is playing right then.  

‘Did Mino molly-coddle you before you got here? Is that why you took so long?’ Jiyong asks. Everybody in the room stops mid-action at The Dragon’s voice, and Seunghyun breaks into more sweat. Jiyong laughs lightly at the effect he his raised voice has, basking in it and waves his hand at the store staff to go on. The delay must have been the traffic. But Jiyong knows his men all too well. A caring Mino must have pulled this Headman aside to whisper how to avert the ‘situation’, considering how the Headman had arrived in Mino’s car. Here the only end to the ‘situation’ is Jiyong catching his prey, there will be no methods to avert that.

Seunghyun comes before him and get on his knees, bending to touch his head to the floor. Jiyong is a little taken aback by this, but he quickly composes himself. ‘I apologize for the delay, sir. The traffic was not letting up’ Seunghyun says, his head touching the floor. Jiyong closes his eyes to the deep rumbling voice of the man before him, imagining how broken it would sound while begging. But at the same time the submission irks him, this is too quick, too boring. Where is the fun when your prey succumbs before you’ve even bought your game out?

Seunghyun had done the most important thing Mino had asked to do. _Submit._ He can only hope things will get better from here out if he bends his head and lowers his voice.

‘Penalize your driver. You are a Headman, have some dignity before you fall on your knees. Now get up’ Jiyong replies. He notices how that fire that he had so badly wanted to snuff out, is simply absent in Seunghyun’s eyes. He feels a little cheated now.

Things settle down after that, but not to Jiyong’s liking though. The headman stands behind his sofa, crossing his arms waiting for Jiyong to finish his shopping. Jiyong quickly says yes to a few things to get out of the store and leave to the next, waiting to get the Headman back in the line of his sight. As he leaves two men in black, his bodyguards joins his flanks. He had left Seunghyun to grapple with the bill work, smiling to himself thinking about the confused, anxious state he should be in now. Well, in the big city you have to learn things the hard way. When Jiyong gets comfortable at the next store, Seunghyun walks in balancing more than 10 large shopping bags, Jiyong smiles again.

Later when his bodyguards report back to Seungri late in the evening, they respond to his casual ‘Anything else unusual?’ with a hesitant ‘Well, he smiled a lot today’. Rightly said, this is unusual. The Dragon does not break out smiles. Not this easily.

After Seunghyun sets the bags around the black sofa, he starts walking towards the space behind it. But The Dragon stops him in his tracks, and pats the space on the sofa beside him and Seunghyun gulps down a scared scream. He sits on the edge of the sofa, as far away from Jiyong and the place he patted as possible. His spine is erect and he breaks out in more sweat, Seunghyun wonders where all this water his body is breaking out is coming from, he definitely hasn’t drunk any since morning. _If he doesn’t kill me soon, I’ll die of dehydration._  

When the next show starts, The Dragon lets out a sound of frustration. ‘I’m bored’ he mutters. But the staff here is indulgent, they offer to bring him beverages, even offers to sing for his entertainment. Seunghyun would have never thought the serious looking manager of this Armani store could bend over his back, in any other situation to entertain a slender man in a pink sweater and pyjamas. But yeah, The Dragon always gets his way. He waves away at their suggestions, and they get more and more frantic and desperate in their attempts to please him. Seunghyun wonders what sort of networking and contacts The Dragon has, to instil such fear in otherwise elite designer shop staff, that too in another city, especially one like Seoul. He also notices how there had been no customers at both the stores they’ve been to. It’s obviously a clear-out, but is it for The Dragon’s security or comfort, Seunghyun doesn’t know.

Seunghyun keeps his eyes mostly on his lap while all this plays out. He occasionally  side-eyes The Dragon out of instinct. ‘Hmm… these suits don’t look well unless they are worn by someone. And I don’t try out clothes at stores’ The Dragon says then, this tangent leaving Seunghyun wondering what will happen next. He knows the tone, it sounds like the one, The Dragon had used while asking to bring the Judas Cradle out at the cathedral. Seunghyun knows by his gut that whatever is coming will not be in his favour. So much for Mino’s rules and advice. As if in sync with Seunghyun’s thoughts, The Dragon turns on him and says, all while tilting his head, lips in a slight pout ‘Headman, won’t you do the honours of modelling for me? After all your body is the best here’

Seunghyun knows he cannot deny the man, but he wants to scream out a no that will resound through the entire mall. He knows he looks dumb from the shock written all over his face. He doesn’t understand the logics behind this at all, Seunghyun is at least two sizes bigger than The Dragon. What was the point in him trying out the clothes that The Dragon was going to buy? _He really likes bigger clothes doesn’t he?_ Seunghyun’s dumb brain provides. He gets up trembling with a nod to The Dragon’s request or rather, order.

Jiyong had this brilliant idea while keeping in check how many times the Headman would steal glances at him in a minute. He didn’t want him to go cross-eyed, _after all I deeply care about my prey?_ So he decided to run his idea, and give the headman what he wants. This arrangement was not at all for his own viewing pleasure. The dumb look of gratefulness on the Headman’s face after his request, was worth every penny that Seungri was burning through in Japan. _I feel magnanimous._

Seunghyun approaches the staff to collect the full dress suit, his eyes searching for the privacy of a dressing room. The staff dully hands him the clothes and bow. He bows back, and then feels stupid for doing it. ‘The dressing room?’ he asks the lady nearest to him and she looks at him confused. The Dragon’s laugh resounds behind him. ‘Headman, we are in the dressing room. Now why don’t you hurry up and strip for me’ The Dragon teasingly replies to his question. Seunghyun’s panic sets in full swing, making him nauseous and lightheaded.

Seunghyun was never comfortable with showing skin. Other than for his face, his hands from wrist down and his feet he likes everything clothed. He’s always clad himself in full sleeved shirts, and later after he joined Yongseongyeog, in full three piece suit. This has been the case ever since elementary school. Seunghyun vaguely remembers the incident. The trauma of the sexual exploitation he had faced at the hands of one of his elementary school male teachers had stayed with him through his adult life. He had resolved most of it, had come to peace with himself. But even with the few partners he had sexually engaged with, the hesitation to reveal skin unless absolutely necessary, was not something that Seunghyun could do. This had of course inevitably thrown people off, many of them have called him weird and left him too. But Seunghyun has accepted it in his stead. If he was in any other situation, Seunghyun could have refused but these were direct orders from his boss. There is no room for disobedience. Seunghyun gulps down the bile rising in his throat. The prospect of having to take off his clothes while he has an audience, short-circuits all his nerves.

Finally, Jiyong sees that fear in the Headman’s return in full force. He spreads his thighs and sit back on the sofa absolutely enjoying the show. There is a tiny nudge in the back of his head, whether this could go wrong, that the Headman is looking a little too sick. This vanishes as he turns before Jiyong, salvaging the last bit of privacy he can demand, and starts shrugging out of his blazer. Jiyong starts to protest at the turned back, but the golden tan of his shoulder stuck to the white of his shirt with all the sweat, winds Jiyong up. _Now, I am getting what I want._ The vision before him is beautiful, the man has wide shoulders and the right waist proportions. To add to it there is gun hitched at his waist band. The shirt stretches beautifully over his back. The blazer is handed to the staff who puts it aside. _Away with that stupid blazer._ Jiyong thinks, noticing how his waist tapers to shapely hips, which holds his slacks. Jiyong sighs _can’t wait for when that comes off_. Next, the tie comes off. Jiyong would like the front view, but the back is too beautiful to give up. He lets out another sigh. And then all hell breaks loose.

Gunshots starts resounding from somewhere far way. One of Jiyong’s bodyguards comes in running while holding his bleeding shoulder and a Glock. Jiyong immediately knows this is not another gang war, from just looking at the man. He knows that these men are used to those and wouldn’t blink an eye as they take on another team of fighters. ‘Sir, you need to leave now. It’s the police’ the man shouts and bends over in pain and exhaustion. Jiyong is out of his seat in rush and walks towards his messenger. He didn’t see this one coming at all.

‘How many?’ Jiyong knows he doesn’t have enough men to fight off a police attack especially in the middle of the capital city. He thought he had immunity in Seoul, his associates had made sure of that. His visits were never public knowledge too. The gunshots seems to be getting closer and closer, but Jiyong keeps his calm. Where Seungri excels in business, Jiyong excels in warfare. He knows well he can take care of this.

‘Too many, Sir. At least thrice more than ours. Before they cover the perimeter you need to leave. We can hold fort till you get out’ the man replies giving Jiyong a sad smile, suggesting his suicide. Jiyong finds his men disposable most of the time, but never when not under his own orders. He doesn’t want to let up, if he didn’t take risks, he wouldn’t be The Dragon. The next gunshot seems not 10 feet away from the curtains to the dressing room.

‘Gun?’ he asks the bodyguard his hand outstretched to take it, while stealing a glance at the Headman, expecting a crying whimpering mess at the news.

Seunghyun had heard the news solemnly. His panic over the clothes situation passed all too quickly to be replaced by a rearing adrenaline. _Get out of here alive_ sung every one of his body cells. The staff had cowered away on seeing the bloody shoulder and the loaded glock. They had taken to hiding in nooks and corners of the dressing room to save themselves from the ringing shots. Seunghyun hopes that no innocent lives will be lost today. Seunghyun had pulled his gun out of his waistband and removed the safety. All that training he has been put through in the last few weeks with Mino should amount to something.

When Jiyong looks back, he sees a completely different man, than the one he expected. This one has an alert face, a hard expression which says he’ll take down anyone who comes his way. He has his gun in position, aiming at the curtains and the source of gunshots. Jiyong feels a little aroused.

‘Sir, here is my spare gun. We will push out of the store together. It looks like they still don’t know exactly where you are. They have not closed of the store yet but soon they will get to the control room and the camera screens. As soon as you step out of the store, take a left. On the far side of the hall there is the stairs. They lead to the garage, you can take the back exit from there’ the bodyguard lays out a plan while handing another gun to Jiyong, accompanied by two refills.

‘Is there no way I can help out our men?’ Jiyong asks following the lead of the bodyguard. Seunghyun is a little surprised by the question and the tone. This man has never dropped his dominant act for once throughout the time he’s been around him. He had never made it look like he cares about anyone other than himself, maybe Seungri. So what is with the slightly submissive stance? Why is he suddenly taking orders instead of giving them? Well, Jiyong under attack is no more a mafia boss but a member of a team being infiltrated, anybody who has more Intel on the situation than him should lead. If he holds on to his ego, he knows he will lose. And there is nothing Jiyong hates more than losing.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i thought I'll leave y'all a bigger chapter as you've been kind enough to wait around. Thanks again for all the comments. Keep them coming, they keep me going. I'd really like to hear what y'all think.


	9. Siege

Jiyong pressed his back flush against the last row of shelves. His next hurdle is the front door of the designer store. He can hear the harsh breaths of the bodyguard behind him, the man has been steadily losing blood. The shot to his shoulder must have been well aimed. Surprisingly the Headman has been quiet throughout their zigzag navigation of the store. Jiyong has been unable to turn back and check, as all his attention was wanted in the front considering how he was leading their three-man team out of the store. The bodyguard had dutifully asked Jiyong before they set out from the dressing room whether he should take the lead. But the man was too injured, and Jiyong was simply not ready to trust anyone to lead, not today. The Headman never asked, and Jiyong assumed the reason behind forgoing usual protocol is his inexperience. Jiyong simply lacked time to process his smaller observations, which had mostly nothing to do with the current life-threatening situation he was in, so he pushed them away to stay fully alert. 

Jiyong crouched where he stood, to see past a section of accessories so he could get a look at the area around the entrance. There seems to be no immediate disturbance, so he signalled the bodyguard to take his flank. Once the bodyguard was in position, Jiyong slowly stepped out. The first bullet whizzed past his left ear and Jiyong ducked for the next, aided only by his instincts. The bodyguard had been unlucky, Jiyong turns to find the second bullet he missed embedded in the man's stomach. In the gap that Jiyong takes to look, the bodyguard wheezes with pain and takes a shot at the shooter who was trying to take them down. The shot hits the target by the sound of it and Jiyong breathes a sigh of relief. This is short-lived. The bodyguard dazedly stumbles a few steps forward and swings on his feet. Jiyong can only watch helplessly, if he rushes out to save the bodyguard from the man's imminent fall, he will expose himself to other shooters who might be hiding outside. It would be a wrong move, as it will only put him in a very vulnerable position.

While Jiyong is contemplating on this dilemma, the bodyguard swings like his knees looks like they are about to give out, a figure rushes out from behind him. Jiyong silently swears at the stupidity of this act. The headman catches the bodyguard in an almost cinematic fashion. He slides his lower body under the falling man, bringing to rest him on the floor. Jiyong's position is officially compromised. He steps out from his hiding to guard his unarmed men on the floor.

Seunghyun presses his hands to the bodyguard’s stomach, trying to restrict the flow of blood. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that the man will not survive, but he is not ready to acknowledge it now. He pushes harder at the wound and the man groans in pain. Seunghyun looks around desperately to do something for him, he even looks at The Dragon. Their boss is focused somewhere else altogether. _I shouldn’t be stupid to expect any help from him of all people._

_'_ Leave me' the man on his lap croaks out at Seunghyun. 'I am bleeding too quickly' the man says, taking laboured breaths. 'Protect the boss, go' he pushes feebly at Seunghyun's shoulder. In the shock of the whole incident, Seunghyun shakes his head in affirmation, promising to protect a man he wants to cower away from.

'What's your name, sir?' Seunghyun asks the man. He just wants something to hold on to, and at this point even a name will do. This man is part of an organisation which works to hide identities so their crimes go unaccountable, but Seunghyun wants to remember this man for the sacrifice he is made to save him.

'Park Shin' the man replies in a small voice, like he has no more strength to take a big breath and voice out words. Seunghyun feels the prick of tears in his eyes. 

Jiyong in the meantime slowly circles the bodyguard who is now fully lying on the floor, his head on the Headman's lap, who looks like he is about to have a major panic attack. Jiyong feels tired all of a sudden, he is protecting his subordinates who should be protecting him. With Jiyong's experience in the department of gunned attacks, he knows he's lost the man lying on the floor. His bets don’t look good with the rookie Headman either, who is now breathing hard as he desperately presses his fingers to the bodyguard’s wounded stomach. They seem to be having an emotional conversation, which Jiyong wants no part in. All he wants is to leave, to drain the adrenaline singing in his blood for flight. The whole scene is a mess.

He knows the Headman with his short time in the organisation has seen the least of the violence and that he is possibly trying to cope with all the gushing blood and the brutality. He was going to run the Headman through the drill himself, in his sweet time, but fate had other plans. Jiyong would have seen this crash course the headman was getting into being a mafia member entertaining in any other circumstance, but right now he simply doesn’t have the time or the energy to babysit a rookie nor play games with him.

 Jiyong knows they will have to leave the bodyguard and move on. Here out in the open, they are sitting duck. In fact, not already getting shot at in itself is surprising. He slowly nudges the Headman with his shoe-sole and gestures him to leave the barely conscious bodyguard. The Headman is crying now, he turns his big tear-filled eyes on Jiyong silently asking him _Have you no mercy?_ The whole scene reminds Jiyong of Pieta, he would have stopped to admire it if not for the threat to his life. He repeatedly nudges the Headman, ready to kill him if he throws a tantrum for having to leave the man behind. To Jiyong's surprise again, the Headman stands up in silence his shirt and hands covered in the bodyguard’s blood. For a second he shivers and looks like he is about to hurl, but takes a deep breath and it seems to pass. Jiyong sighs and approaches him. If anybody was out there with their guns pointed, they would have already taken shots. Jiyong can take the risk of someone walking in on them, the surprise element will definitely give him a window to aim and shoot. Jiyong puts his hands on the arms of the Headman, mentally preparing himself for the pep talk he is about to give. He knows the Headman's survival is instrumental for his own, an attempt to escape this mall without a wingman is too big a risk to take.

'Listen to me, Headm-'Jiyong starts, only to be immediately interrupted by a distinct throat-clearing from the Headman who was drooping before him.

'Choi, call me Choi. I don’t want you to call me some name you gave me before I'm going to die' The Headman replies while shrugging Jiyong’s hands off his shoulder. Jiyong for a second is blown by the rather sharp tone of the words and the physical rejection. He did not expect it from the scared meek headman at all. He feels a little disrespected, but at the same time thrilled. Nobody has dared to talk to him in a harsh tone for years now. When the shock passes, Jiyong snickers all while looking at the Headman 'Oh my God, and now he laughs' the Headman continues. Jiyong doubles over in laughter, the situation totally absurd but funny to him.

Seunghyun runs his bloodied hands from the bodyguard’s wounds, across his forehead and scalp. The adrenaline rush induced fearlessness in him is acting up, but he cannot bring himself to care for the consequences that his words might have. He looks at The Dragon for a second, the man looks nicer when he laughs. Seunghyun feels a pull in his chest, but pushes any stray thoughts away. All he should be concentrating on now is getting out of here alive.

Jiyong straightens up and looks directly at the Headman to find that his gaze is being squarely returned. Jiyong feels like he hasn’t yet met the man who is before him. 'Choi' he addresses him, and he recoils like a rubber band to stand straighter and lowers his head, Jiyong's words holding the right power over him. Somehow Jiyong feels like he will be walking away from this attack intact, he feels safer. 'We take the door out and follow Park's instructions.' Choi's face contorts into a small sad smile at usage of that name, all while still facing the floor. Jiyong smiles almost reflexively. 'We get out of here, alive. Both of us. No matter what. Do you get me, Choi?' Jiyong asks. Choi nods and Jiyong notices the blood smeared on his forehead, but doesn’t make a comment.

The words calm Seunghyun, the voice which has terrified him all through their previous encounters soothing him now. To say that he is surprised at the effect the words have on him is an understatement. His panic seems to be taking a backseat, the previous need to survive settling in again. The man before him looks like a leader, sounds like a good one even. They have a good chance at this and Seunghyun decides he will give it his best shot like has done so far.

The mall is absolutely empty when Jiyong steps out, Choi right by his side. There seems to be an eerie silence encompassing the halls, the gunshots have stopped. But Jiyong knows better than to think that it is safe now. This silence can only mean the police or his men has taken out their respective opposition. By the statistics that Park divulged to them, Jiyong suspects that they are alone now in this, against a full police force. It is just the two of them against whoever stands in their way out. Jiyong briefly does a sweep of the hall. 'Do what I do and follow me out, be careful and don’t stop in between' he says to Choi as he checks his gun, not wanting to make eye contact with the man beside him.

Before he can hear the affirmation in that deep voice, Jiyong crouches and rolls to a pillar adjacent to store front. He knows Choi will follow, but in the brief window of time he get, Jiyong wonders what is going on with himself. He had brought the man here to play games with him. Over the last 48 hours his wants, which were usually crystal clear with other men he'd fucked over or fucked, have become murky. The lines look all blurred now, and it scares Jiyong.

Choi follows him with lesser grace, trying to do a smooth roll like Jiyong did but failing comically. Jiyong smiles at the sight of it. 'Haven't you done this before?' Jiyong asks, tone a little irate, when Choi nearly bumps into him behind the third pillar. What he expects is a meek sorry, but Jiyong should have kept in mind the last mutiny.

'What do you think? I am trying to do my best, okay? It is harder than how it looks like in the movies, and not everyone is as graceful as you' Seunghyun replies exasperated at the almost dumb question. _What part of 'I joined the mafia not a year ago' didn’t this man get?_

_Did he just call me graceful?_ Jiyong contorts his face to make his smile look like a smirk, but ends up grimacing. They repeat this routine, from adjacent pillar to pillar till they are right near the emergency staircase. Throughout the whole routine Jiyong takes the lead, always going first. This gives him time to think as Choi clumsily flounders through each roll. Jiyong has initially started this game to crush down that rebellious light he saw in Choi all those nights ago, while they returned from the last Sector 7 Headman's trial. Choi had looked innocent, new to blood-spill just like Seungri had later confirmed later. Jiyong has always had a thing for fucking up things which look pristine. But things had changed, and he hadn’t noticed. He liked looking at the man now. Just looking at him. The fact that he found him hot, earlier today, hadn’t come surprising to Jiyong. His sexual drives had always been deeply tied to his need to destroy. But he somehow didn’t want the man who was rolling on the floor of the mall like a new-born penguin to be his next casualty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I am sorry for the late update again. I've been working on this fic, creating chapter plans and Character boards. Nope I hadn't done them before cause I dumb and new to this. forgive me. Things are working out and you can expect 25 chapters for this fic. I also want to promise that I will make the updates on every Tuesday and Friday, Kinda.   
> Thanks for all the comments. Keep them coming, I love to read them. They keep me going, you all have no idea.


	10. Escape

Seunghyun in an attempt to calm himself, started counting the pillars. There were fourteen of them, with only one left before they reach the emergency exit. Somehow a silent agreement had happened between the two of them that they will follow Park’s plan, and so far it was working for them. There had been no attacks on them so far which makes Seunghyun wonder why the police should hasn’t located them with CCTV by now _._ With a little panicked practice Seunghyun also feels he has become a little better with the whole rolling on the floor business. This gives him an odd sense of confidence too.   

Seunghyun looks on as The Dragon rolls out to the last pillar, when the next shots ring out. Seunghyun startles violently and hides behind his pillar. He can only hope to god the other man is unharmed. _I only care because he is more experienced at these attacks and I’ll never make it out of here alive without him,_ Seunghyun pushes the thought onto his questioning rationale. The Dragon bends around the last pillar, after what Seunghyun assumes a full check of the area and nods at him to make a move. There is no trace of pain on that face or blood anywhere Seunghyun can see, he sighs in relief. Seunghyun knows the next roll is a risk, but what will be worse is making the undeterred run to the emergency exit. Rolling on the floor, he understands by now makes a quickly moving target with less surface area to shoot. They can’t roll to the door because of how it’s too far away. The only option is to make the run but they will make themselves easy targets. _Without taking the shooter out we simply cannot make a move forward_ Seunghyun decides while a stray question floats in his head _We? When did he and I become a ‘we’?_ Seunghyun assumes The Dragon should have a plan regarding this by now but he sees that this is their best chance.

Jiyong had been wondering all this while why the police hadn’t found him. One look at the CCTV and his position would have been compromised, _so what was stopping them to come in full force to take me down?_ When the shots ring he is not even surprised, he smoothly finds his place behind the destined pillar. Jiyong would have liked to take out the shooter mid-roll but when the shots rang out his angle was off. It would have been suicide to take the shot then. He decides the best bet to take the man out is while making the run towards the emergency exit. It is risky but they don’t have a choice anymore. Jiyong looks around to see Choi taking deep breaths as if to prepare himself to make the move, he can’t help the stray smile on his face which he quickly hides. He nods at the man to reassure him and then turns away to scout the area where the shot came from. He can only hope that Choi will make a move soon. More the time he takes, more the time the police shooter have to prepare themselves and better will their shots be.

Seunghyun makes a resolution to resolve the situation. He channels in all the shooting lessons Mino had covertly taught him in the safety of his apartment. There though, he could make mistakes, there the shots were not loud with the help of a silencer, there things were not this scary. Here, Seunghyun could end up dead in a single second. _Survive_ Seunghyun tells himself as he makes the next roll, stops mid-way, kneels, takes aim and shoot their opponent. The man falls beautifully from the upper floor, Seunghyun's first kill. The shock and the guilt that Seunghyun expected, even feared, doesn’t hit him. _I just did what I had to survive._

 As soon as Choi rolls out from his hiding place, shots ring out and Jiyong intensely looks around trying to figure out exactly where the police shooter is hiding. What startles Jiyong is the sound of a shot from near him and the police officer falling like an unhinged puppet, his clothes bellowing out around him. Jiyong turns to the sound, captivated by the sight he sees. Choi is in a half-kneel with a pointed gun, his hair all pushed back with drying blood on his forehead which Jiyong remembers he smeared there after Park's demise. This reveals the sharp eyebrows and the sharper eyes, which Jiyong hadn’t noticed before. _Who is this man?_ Jiyong thinks again. Jiyong is reminded of a particular God of Destruction in war whose image he happened to come across on a trip to India. Jiyong feels his survival might not be as hopeless as he thought it was, his chances look way better now, just like the man before him.

Seunghyun's next roll ends up in him bumping into The Dragon. He could have moved out of the way considering that he must have calculated Seunghyun's momentum, but he simply hadn’t. Seunghyun looks at him briefly but the boss is already scouting the area to make the last run. They turn to the sound of distant gunshots somewhere. Seunghyun feels like their time is running out. 

'Follow me out. Crouch and run, be silent as possible.' The Dragon gives him quick instructions and makes the run to the emergency exit, while Seunghyun follows. Seunghyun finds himself trusting The Dragon, and can’t help but be surprised at this. Not half an hour ago Seunghyun would have named The Dragon the biggest threat to his life. But now he feels like he could follow this man that he will be led him to safety.

They reach the door and Jiyong turns the handle and ducks in as Choi guards his back and closes the door behind them silently. Then it is a mad rush to get to the bottom, cocking their guns at the doors they pass. By the time they reach the lowest level door, Jiyong is sweating through his sweater. The wool is scratching against his moist skin making him uncomfortable in the same clothes he chose today morning to wear for reasons contradictory. Jiyong puts his hand on the handle of the door. This door will lead him out, presumably to safety. Before he turns the handle he takes a lot at the man beside him. He's seen Choi in an entirely new light during this attack, the imminent danger has brought out a side to the man that Jiyong had never assumed was there to begin with. Jiyong wanted to hold on to this for a second more, this danger which allows this man to be whatever he is now, which makes Jiyong confused as to what he wants to do to him.

Choi has blood all over his white shirt and on his face. Jiyong notices the bullet burn on his right bicep, where blood has stuck to the fringes of the singed shirt. A close call that must have been, Jiyong wonders whether Choi has even noticed the wound. The blood smeared on his face mixed with his sweat falls in droplets off his forehead. The man is unaware of the appreciation in Jiyong's gaze as he has his gun trained towards the upper floors, looking for any of the police, who might open the door to the emergency stairwell.

Something about Seunghyun and this whole heist is making Jiyong feel alive again. He feels less like a removed mafia lord, like he has a very active role. This never used to sit well with Jiyong before but it somehow does now.

Jiyong simply doesn’t want to open the door anymore.

When there is a pause in the action, Seunghyun looks at Jiyong wondering what is wrong. The looming danger makes him wonder whether the trained eye of The Dragon has inspected a threat which he himself missed. Seunghyun turns to him, lifting his head questioningly to which The Dragon nods towards the door asking him to take the lead. Seunghyun gulps down at the rising anxiety on being told to take responsibility, and steps forward to turn the handle.

The things which happen next are all too quick for Seunghyun. The door he opens reveals a man in a uniform who Seunghyun aims to take a shot almost immediately, instinctually. But the man is faster, Seunghyun falls sharply on the floor with the force of the bullet to his shoulder. When the initial shock passes, the pain seeps in and like a vice forces a groan out of him. Seunghyun wonders he will make it out of here alive.

Seunghyun looks up to see that both The Dragon and the police officer has their guns cocked at each other. He expects a gun to go off but they just watch each other for a minute before The Dragon drops his gun on the floor. Seunghyun looks on in shock wondering whether The Dragon just gave up on the both of them. What his boss next does makes Seunghyun want to rub his eyes and pinch himself, the man steps over Seunghyun towards the officer and Seunghyun expects a punch or something defensive. But the boss envelops the man in a hug and sags in his arms. The police officer in a rather melodic voice mutters 'Jiyong' as he embraces The Dragon back, tightly. His boss looks like he may shed some tears next and, Seunghyun just lies there wondering whether he is already dead.

'Youngbae. Oh, Youngbae. You're here' The Dragon sighs as he tightens the hold. Seunghyun is looking around to see whether any other police officers are coming their way while his boss has just dropped his gun and is having an emotional breakdown, while fraternising with the _enemy_. Seunghyun slowly breathes in and out to get used to the pain. He slowly tries to get, the pain sharpening. When he is fully erect, Seunghyun is panting with the effort.

The loud breathing behind him makes Jiyong releases the stronghold he has on Youngbae. Choi seems to have stood up, his wound looks ugly but Jiyong’s diagnosis is that it will not kill, not any time soon. They share an intense look before he turns back to his best friend. _Youngbae is here, i have nothing to fear_ Jiyong thinks as he smiles at the proud police officer before him. He turns to extend a hand towards Choi’s shoulder touching the wound briefly while Youngbae looks on this scene in a piqued interest as the behaviour Jiyong was showing was weird even to him.

'Is he yours?' Youngbae asks behind him. Jiyong smiles at the usage of words.

'Yeah, he is' Jiyong replies while smiling at the annoyed expression on Choi's face.

'Well, we should move you out as soon as possible. I'll help you find a car' Youngbae says waking Jiyong up from a semi-trance he was in. Jiyong looks at the blood which came away on his hands and wills himself to stay alert of his current situation. Meanwhile Youngbae hitches his service gun in his pant belt and pulls on gloves from his pocket. He pulls them on silently while Seunghyun wonders what they are for. Jiyong beats him to the question.

'Gloves?' Jiyong asks as he picks up his own gun from the floor. Jiyong is aware of Choi’s attention on their exchanges, he should be baffled at the familiarity between the men. It is not like Jiyong behaves like this with other people. He is always careful in showing his vulnerabilities. Jiyong gives his man another once over, noting that his left shoulder is the one which is injured. Jiyong is thankful to whatever higher power for this as Choi was right handed and therefore can still shoot.

'Yeah, if I have to get you out, I'll have to shoot some of my own men. If they find these bullets they will trace it back to me. They are all supposedly personalised. Might as well use gloves and not leave any fingerprints. I can just tell them that the gun was stolen from me.' Youngbae replies, his words flowing out quickly as he checks his gun.

Seunghyun looks on at the man in wonder. He knew that some of the police was The Dragon’s in Busan but this man is from an entirely another city, that too the capital city. _Who could this be to The Dragon?_ The relationship between him and The Dragon does not seem to be one of business and money at all, because Seunghyun knows how The Dragon behaves with people who he does business with. Something tells Seunghyun that this man might have known his boss for longer than Seungri has. When Seunghyun turns to look at The Dragon, he seems to be smiling endearingly at this newcomer. _If The Dragon trust him then he should be fine_ Seunghyun tells himself preparing himself to move forward with his injured shoulder. He tests his hold on the gun and Seunghyun confirms with himself that he can shoot. His aim wouldn’t be as good without the left hand support but he can definitely take down a man with a couple of shots.

'Listen, let’s find a discreet car we can hotwire. You can take it to somewhere a little away in the city but not all the way to Busan, because I expect them to border check private vehicles tonight.’ Youngbae draws out a plan for them as they walk towards the cars parked in the underground parking.

‘They really want to catch me this time, don’t they?’ Jiyong asks with a smirk.

‘They do. This mission had so much secrecy that I only got to know at the briefing today afternoon. I called Seungri immediately and I presumed he called you. I couldn’t check with him later whether you were informed. I made the call from one of Hyorin’s burner phones and I had to dispose it immediately after use in case they trace things back’ Youngbae sighs as he bends to look underneath a black Honda. The model Seunghyun notices is at least 7 years old, and the car looks like it’s the property of a civilian. _This must be discreet_ Seunghyun thinks. Youngbae takes out what looks like a key set and Jiyong laughs. Seunghyun looks at him, startled. This sounds more genuine than anything Seunghyun has heard from him before.

‘You still carry this around?’ Jiyong asks. He takes the key set, which is more strange looking iron things than keys, from Youngbae’s hands and looks at it fondly. Seunghyun wants to scream at him, to tell him that they have to get out. _We have no time for this emo bullshit_. Seunghyun mentally screams at him.

‘Not really. Today I just knew that we might need our old tools.’ Youngbae replies, all while smiling. Jiyong starts jimmying the lock on the car door.

 _Finally_ Seunghyun breathes out. The Dragon looks younger to him all of a sudden while he is trying to open the lock. _This must have been what he did before the whole mafia thing_ Seunghyun thinks.

‘I think Seungri called me to tell me this but I was not in the mood to pick up’ Jiyong makes small talk, the lock nearly popping.

‘You know not picking calls is risky in this field, Jiyong’ Youngbae replies, his tone scolding. Seunghyun is both surprised and annoyed. This man was now scolding The Dragon, his very boss who impaled a headman, ass-first in a church, in a full-on satanic style. _And I thought Seungri had balls around The Dragon?_ Seunghyun thinks. He is annoyed that they are making this small talk when they should be actively concentrating all their energy on escaping.

‘I know, Youngbae’ Jiyong replies, as the lock comes open in his hand. He mutters a victorious ‘ah’ and opens the door. Seunghyun sighs in relief.

‘Do you want me to hotwire it?’ Youngbae asks. Jiyong nods and moves away from the driver’s seat to let Youngbae climb into the car.

‘Did Hyorin mess with the CCTV too?’ Jiyong asks as Youngbae does his magic. They’ve been the perfect team while stealing cars, Jiyong’s speciality being opening locks and Youngbae’s messing with the right wires.

‘Yeah, she gave me a pen-drive. All I had to do was plug it in and things just went black in under 10 seconds’ Youngbae replies his voice proud. Seunghyun wonder who this ‘Hyorin’ is, she seems to be quiet the resourceful person.

‘Marry her. Just do it. You won’t find anyone better, I swear.’ Jiyong says while chuckling. Seunghyun wonder whether this badass tech-savvy girl is this police officer’s girlfriend. _He is no ordinary police, is he?_

‘I’ve asked her, you know.’ Youngbae replies while touching a red and a blue wire together, the car nearly starting up.

‘Really?’ Jiyong asks, leaning his entire body in interest towards Youngbae.

‘This was after we made love this one time. She just lay there for some time while I went crazy and looked at me for a long time. I thought she’ll say no but she said she’ll think about it’ Youngbae says, looking back at Jiyong with a proud, dizzy smile. The car starts then and Youngbae climbs out all while Jiyong is laughing at his friend’s fortune. Seunghyun cannot help the smile which breaks out on his face despite how tense he feels.

‘You know with Hyorin that is a yes, right?’ Jiyong tells Youngbae, who nods while looking at the floor shyly. Jiyong gestures at Seunghyun to take the wheel, acknowledging his presence for the first time in a long time. Seunghyun wonders whether he should point out his injured shoulder and therefore his difficulty in driving but thinks the better of it. _Let’s not make The Dragon hostile again._

‘Don’t drive around for too long, dispose this car in an hour. They will start patrolling the area soon.’ Youngbae instructs as Seunghyun slips into the driver’s seat and Jiyong walks around the car to the passenger side. ‘Take a bus from some remote stop to Busan.' Youngbae follows him and closes the door for Jiyong. Seunghyun is reminded of his mother.  Youngbae continues as he puts a hand Jiyong's shoulder through the window. He nods in reply to Youngbae’s statement. 'Do you have cash on you? I don’t have to tell you not to use cards, right?'

Jiyong reaches into his back pocket to find his wallet. It is empty, he quickly checks all his pockets but comes up with neither his phone nor his wallet. He sighs, remembering tossing his phone on the couch in the Armani store. He had forgot to pick it up as he had left in a hurry. His purse too must have slipped out in between all the running and rolling.

'No cash.' Jiyong mutters out. Youngbae fishes out his wallet immediately and pulls out a few thousand won notes. Jiyong takes the money from him.

They suddenly hear footsteps from near the emergency exit. Seunghyun panics, not minding his aching shoulder puts the car into gear. Youngbae looks around the car to see some of his fellow police officers approaching the area they are currently standing in. They haven’t noticed the car or their target inside. Not yet. If Jiyong leaves now, Youngbae knows that the whole thing would simply look suspicious. He will have to make it look like The Dragon and his lackey escaped an injured officer or else Youngbae will be facing questions.

‘Shoot me’ Youngbae tells Jiyong whose eyes widen in shock. ‘I said shoot me’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I know I am late by a day. Sorry. Here is a slightly bigger chapter. I read all your comments, they are all so big and detailed. I am so thankful and they make me really happy.  
> Keep them coming. I might actually use the things that you suggest in the comments.  
> Thanks for reading this fic.


	11. In Your Head

To say that Jiyong had never had to shoot at a friend before would be a lie, because he has, multiple times. But the circumstances were all entirely different. These friends had broken his trust, turned their back on Jiyong’s loyalty. Betrayal always lights something in him, a need to kill, and he's shot some of his closest friend dead. True, he didn’t walk away from the killing unscathed but Jiyong knew when things had to done without second thoughts.

Youngbae, well he was entirely different case in comparison to his betraying friends. Youngbae is the most innocent, humane person Jiyong has ever come across in his cursed existence. If it was not for him, Jiyong wouldn’t even be alive today to begin with. They'd grown up together, Youngbae's mother had worked in the same organisation Jiyong had been a slave to. In the most hopeless and desperate of times, Youngbae had bought him comfort, been there by his side. Through the years they were separated, even though Youngbae did not have to, he remembered Jiyong despite having no contact with him whatsoever. He still remembers their reunion afresh, when Youngbae had held him through his tears, told him that he should escape the agents of his torture. While Jiyong has these flashbacks, Choi decides to take things into his own hands.

Seunghyun looks on as The Dragon hesitates to do what is necessary. The friendly police officer looks frantic, his colleagues are right around the corner. They will see them any moment now, and this car is definitely not bullet proof.  Youngbae's order should be fulfilled, and they should leave immediately. Or else they will miss their window of escape. Seunghyun looks at the gun he left in the car's console. With one last look at his troubled boss, Seunghyun decides it is time to do what the other man cannot. He picks up the gun and shoots the friendly police officer in his right shoulder, around the same area where he himself had been shot in the left. When the man falls back, Seunghyun releases the clutch and presses down onto the accelerator, racing the car out of the underground parking lot.

It has been a long time since Jiyong has been this shook.  He should have expected Choi to take the shot, but in the end it came as a surprise. He cannot take his eyes off Youngbae as he falls to the ground, Jiyong feels a pull towards him as if they are attached by a string. He slightly leans out of the car, his hands on the open window looking at his friend for moment too short, not enough to confirm that Youngbae is alright. When Choi speeds the car out of the parking and Jiyong loses sight of Youngbae, everything becomes background noise for him. The image of his friend falling replays in his head and Jiyong feels like he is the agent of the pain on Youngbae's face. That he caused all this trouble. 

There are shouts behind them, but Seunghyun does not let up on the speed. Gunshots ring out, he ducks and their back glass shatters. Seunghyun calmly swerves the car around the corner and up the slope to the ground floor. Thankfully there is no police in the front area of the mall. Seunghyun directs the car into the main road.  When they have been a full fifteen minutes on the road with no words exchanged between them, Seunghyun starts worrying. He has not been to Seoul enough times to know the streets well, the car has a GPS navigation but Seunghyun doesn’t know where he is supposed to go. The Dragon, Seunghyun presumes must be angry with him for shooting the police officer. Seunghyun doesn’t want to aggravate him further so he thinks it is wise to keep silent. But at the same time he should be receiving orders as to where he is to go from here. The bleeding in his shoulder seems to have reduced considerably but the entire area feels like it is slowly burning. Seunghyun clenches his teeth to turn the steering wheel, the pain piquing, trying hard to not let out. The burn in his shoulder also gives way to anger, _it is not like I did anything wrong_ Seunghyun thinks, _the man asked to be shot._

Seunghyun's anger slowly rises to the point that he wants to shout at The Dragon for dragging on this tense silence. They have escaped something that most men will come away only in body bags. His boss should patting him on his back and telling him that he did well. He should promoting him now, not that Seunghyun wants a promotion. In fact he’d like to be asked what he wants so he can ask to go back to managing that small club. _How nice were those peaceful days._ His scattered thought line is broken by a nearly silent sniff, Seunghyun turns to the source of the sound. _Oh my god, he is crying._

Years of conditioning that has taught him to blame himself, in every situation gone wrong, resurfaces in the worst of his moments. When he is stressed out, the self-blame slowly sneaks up on him and catches Jiyong unawares. Jiyong had long acknowledged its constant presence in the back of his mind, long given up an active fight. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t kept tabs on it, so it won’t affect him as strongly as it used to when he was younger. But today seems to be a bad day in every sense. He feels crippled, trapped in his own head unable to help himself, to tell himself that he hasn’t done anything wrong. Tears flow, Jiyong feels submerged in a thick liquid, unaware and helpless.

Seunghyun stops the car somewhere along the side of the park which, if he remembers right, leads to the Han riverside. He realises he is much more terrified of the crying, vulnerable looking man beside him in the passenger seat than The Dragon with the evil glint in his eyes, ready to draw blood. Without a word, Seunghyun parks the car and steps out.

When he himself cries, he likes doing it in the privacy of his dark bedroom. But Seunghyun understands that this privacy is a luxury, and that often life does not offer the chance for such luxuries. He applies the same rule here, thinking that his boss would like some privacy. Seunghyun stands outside the car worrying about their future, whether they will make it out of the city alive. He is utterly confused with his boss' tears at the expense of the police officer. He understands that they are thick friends, _or whatever they are_ but simultaneously wonders what would warrant tears from this otherwise evil mafia lord. He could never in his life have imagined this sight. When he left he had taken a last glance at The Dragon and the otherwise angled, angelic face looked red and swollen. _Did I say angelic? Fuck_ Something about the tears was also endearing, _am I also turning sadistic?_ Seunghyun rubs his eyes in irritation and searches his pockets for his cigarettes. He then remembers removing his blazer at the Armani store, his wallet, mobile and cigarettes in it, all so he could model for the man crying inside the car. _Scratch endearing, he deserves to cry. A little?_

Seunghyun remembers Youngbae saying that they have to dispose the car within the hour, that the police will start patrols on the area soon. If Seunghyun's sense of direction was right, they were quite far away from the area of the mall. He vaguely wonders why any police cars hadn’t tried to chase them, like in the movies. _The police officer must have done something, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it was his badass girlfriend-to-be-wife who slit the tires herself._ Seunghyun smiles at the thought. The police officer was the one man among the many who surrounded The Dragon who didn’t come off as lethal. He seemed very trustable, despite shooting Seunghyun in the shoulder. Something tells Seunghyun that this might be the reason why The Dragon is this affected by the whole turn in events. Seunghyun slowly touches the wound on his shoulder, thankful that he had the initial sense to park the car in a comparatively less crowded area. The few people who are around seems to be giving him looks, probably for all the blood on his face and shirt. His shirt Seunghyun confirms will not be re-usable after this. The whole thing has only patches of white here and there, the rest is all bright red, either his or the bodyguard, Park's blood.

Jiyong when Seunghyun leaves the car curls into himself and sobs, his breaths racking through his body. He is overwhelmed by the quickly oncoming panic attack. _Everybody leaves you in the end, nobody can handle you_ an evil voice in his head repeats to him and Jiyong crumbles. He yearns to be held, to be soothed, if not at least be given company, talked to. But the last human contact available to him just left the car to... Jiyong looks up to see the Headman smiling dumbly at nothing. He feels like if he had the energy, he would have personally walk out and kick him in the shin. Jiyong watches the man closely, something about him weirdly calming his previously quickening breaths. Choi looks around for a bit, troubled by, what Jiyong presumes, the stares of the scarce number people walking around the near deserted area by the Han River. _If he is so worried of people staring then he should have stayed inside the fucking car._ Choi then looks down at the shirt he is wearing. Jiyong notices how nearly the entire thing is bloodied and is drawing unnecessary attention to them. He hits the horn loudly, Choi startles and looks at him. He gestures at Choi to come back inside, _I would have preferred to show him my middle finger for deserting me._

Choi briskly walks to the door and opens it to ask what Jiyong wants. 'Get back in the car, Choi' Jiyong replies in an annoyed tone. Choi looks thoroughly exasperated at this reply, as if he left the car all for Jiyong’s sake. He doesn’t say a word though. He simply climbs into the driver seat and sits there, digging out a bottle of water from the holder on the door. Something in Jiyong, call it instinct, tells him to push the man further, to anger him. 'I can’t believe you stood out there in the open, like a red fucking flag, so the police could sail past us and just pick us up'

Seunghyun turns to his boss sharply, water held in his mouth preciously so the reply he so wants to utter will not leak out. But something about the man's condescending expression, in the context of all that Seunghyun has painfully built his courage to do today, breaks it out. Seunghyun swallows the water and carefully enunciates his next words, not giving a damn abou the consequences. 'At least I am not a mafia boss who has multiple breakdowns mid-attack'

'You were dead for what you did to Youngbae, asshole. But what you just said sealed your fate. Once you get back to Busan we will see who has breakdowns. Now fucking drive' The Dragon replies, his tone snarky. Seunghyun senses a lack of venom in these words, somehow there seems to be no intention. Yet it is clear as day that The Dragon wants to hit Seunghyun. Something about this situation, the probable end of it all pushes Seunghyun to keep instigating trouble.

'I nearly died today, and i don’t think this ends here. So yeah, you want to kill me? My pleasure. Do your best' Seunghyun replies, nearly lifting his hand to pat The Dragon on his head but chickens out last minute. The Dragon on the other hand looks a little thrown at his words, and Seunghyun feels like he is won this one. 'Now, Your Highness why don’t you direct me where to go instead of crying like a sissy?'

Jiyong laughs in absolute disbelief at the change in Choi’s attitude. He knows that when a man has looked at death in the eye, he does not come away the same. But this absolute changeover is completely unprecedented. He wonders whether Choi had all this under the man who constantly cowered before Jiyong. He definitely likes that fear in the eyes of the man before him, but surprisingly he feels that the challenge there now looks better on him.There is one part of Jiyong which is mad at Seunghyun for the pure disrespect but there is another one which is thankful for the distraction, for the banter and how it grounds him. He puts a hand on the man's shoulder, as if to appreciate his efforts. Choi looks a little perturbed by the action until his face twists in pain as Jiyong presses the tip of his index finger into his gun wound.

_The Dragon never loses, Bitch._ He smiles sweetly at Choi who looks like he is about to scream.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An Update on time!!! I feel accomplished.   
> God, I wouldn't have a plot if they weren't both short tempered.   
> Thanks for all the comments again.


	12. Finding Solace Part 1

The Dragon has his back against the deserted shed, his head leaning on the rusted iron revealing a fair column of neck, Seunghyun looks away. The man looks bathed in gold, an angelic sight in the last hues of light before sunset.

When the summer evening was quickly progressing into night, they had suddenly become aware of the dangers of keeping the car as the police officer had informed. The car was duly abandoned in a deserted alleyway near the Han River after which they had kept walking for some time through the back streets, where they rarely came across people even though it was yet to get dark. The entire area seems to give off a dangerous-downtown vibe to Seunghyun, who kept a vigilant eye on their surrounding constantly.

Every time Seunghyun was startled by some mundane sound in the streets, which progressively became alleys, his gunshot wound and the entire left side of his body protested sharply. It was worrying him to no end as the wound was slowly but definitely rendering his left shoulder useless. Seunghyun is not at all pleased with the fact that his body is slowly failing him while their escape is still underway. He knows they are not safe until they are back in The Dragon’s territory. But the more his body protests, the farther the Promised Land seems to be to him. 

After the petty argument and The Dragon pushing a finger in his wound, Seunghyun had expected some sort of acknowledgement of this elephant in the room and some sort of resolution. He knows very little about gunshot wounds but common sense tells him that leaving a foreign object in his body will only create infection. But Seunghyun lacks the experience to deal with it, he does not even know what first aid can be done. _Do I just stick a finger in there a pull it out? Probably not the best idea._

Something about the lack of immediate danger and the consequent adrenaline hinders Seunghyun from talking to The Dragon about it, to voice his concerns. He doesn’t want to rouse irritation in the otherwise calm man by asking questions. He somehow trusts his boss to have answers, to have things planned out. But the man seems entirely zoned out, like he is only existing in his own head, even as he led the way through the alleyways. Something from previous experience nags at Seunghyun’s mind, telling him that The Dragon will not make things easy for him, especially after Seunghyun shooting a certain precious police officer. “ _Petty” that should be his tagline if he ever has one_ Seunghyun had thought as he steps over waste spilling out of a large dumpster. 

 The Dragon had just happened to find a near broken down shed, which seems to be an outhouse of sorts to a larger building nearby. They had pushed open the door with nearly no effort as the whole hinge set was rusted beyond repair. Seunghyun had settled down on a small hill of old sand in the corner of the room, too tired to be stand and wait to be dismissed. He was unsure of the consequences of his disregard of the usual hegemonic protocol but the trauma of a near death experience coupled with his body’s poor condition was enough to make him feel that he deserved to sit down at least.

Seunghyun had hunched over himself, immediately after sitting down, the heightening pain crippling him, all while putting in his best effort to not make a sound. When the burning sensation in his shoulder fainted a little he just sat there waiting for the next orders, gritting his teeth in effort not to groan every time his body twitched or shivered in the light cold, consequently moving his shoulder and the embedded bullet in it. Paradoxically Seunghyun felt that his making sounds would break The Dragon out of whatever reverie he was in, which would not be pleasing to the man. This could be pegged under his fear of disturbing The Dragon, but Seunghyun likes to believe that he can he suffer through the pain bravely, till The Dragon acknowledges the wound and the intention of sacrifice behind it. Seunghyun believes that only then should the wound should be treated.

He thus keeps confusing himself by masking his inexperience and inability t solve the situation, bravery all while The Dragon wanders out of the building for a little for what Seunghyun assumes is to relieve himself. After a short interval he languidly walks back in and seats himself in the other corner of the shed, directly adjacent to Seunghyun but abstaining from giving Seunghyun even a glance.

The sunlight soon gives way to an evening which encompasses them in pitch darkness. Seunghyun is reminded of the last time he had to hide in a similar place. He had been waiting to meet Seungri after acquiring that cursed suitcase from the now-dead sector 7 headman. Seunghyun fervently wishes that he could go back and tell himself not to open it, to quell his damned curiosity. While introspecting about the events of the last month or so, he had come to the conclusion that this isolated incident was the starting point of all his subsequent misery. He gets a flash of the image of The Dragon standing over him, his barefoot on Seunghyun’s neck, pressing down on his Adam’s apple, choking him. Seunghyun unconsciously lifts his hand to touch his neck. He was terrified of The Dragon then. _But what do I feel now?_

'I'm hungry' The Dragon says, slightly startling Seunghyun, the pain in his shoulder peaking again. A heavy silence had settled between them after the heated squabble in the car. True, Seunghyun was annoyed by his boss' attitude and his pointed words but now that conversation has ceased he starts worrying that they will revert back to The Dragon being predator and him being prey. _What?_ Seunghyun thinks, surprised at himself and by how he formed this metaphor. But it somehow makes sense to him now when he thinks in retrospect of the manner in which The Dragon used to behave around him. Seunghyun feels tired of that game, that dynamic, where he is in constantly on his toes in fear for his life, of being in flight from being hunted. Not that the squabbling is any good either, but at least he feels he has a voice, with which he can counterattack which was not really an option before. _Maybe acknowledgement for sacrifices are overrated._

Seunghyun claps a hand on a mosquito biting in his arm killing the annoying creature, he sees The Dragon's silhouette slightly jumping at the sudden sharp sound. _God, so much for owning the bloody mafia_. He simply doesn’t know whether he is supposed to reply to what The Dragon just said or not, his inexperience with being around the man and in the mafia providing to this situation greatly. So Seunghyun puts off answering at all. It is not like he can cook food out of thin air, they had even ran out of water an hour ago. It is not like they, or rather his boss, had been economic about it. The Dragon had simply chugged down half a bottle after his breakdown, without even asking Seunghyun whether he wants a sip, leaving him not even one drop. 'I said I am hungry' The Dragon repeats his words, tone annoyed now. _Well, thanks to you, we don’t even have any water left_ Seunghyun wants to say but he keeps his thoughts to himself, nearly putting a hand over his mouth.

Seunghyun looks at him, his boss' silhouette is facing him. The tone calls for an immediate answer, clearly. 'What can I do?' He asks, his tone that of an obedient subordinate. He had reminded himself of Mino’s advice to him before he left this morning. Seunghyun feels proud of himself and his skills to act, as the words and their tone which were forming in his head was quite opposite to what had come out of his mouth. He also momentarily wonders whether this approach will be effective of saving him from The Dragon’s wrath when get back to Busan. _I got this far when I thought I wouldn’t make out of that store._ Seunghyun tells himself, calming his inner turmoil and anxiety regarding the consequences of his behaviour towards The Dragon earlier in the day.

'Hmm… Good headman' The Dragon replies being in an overtly affectionate tone, making the intended sarcasm clear. The impersonal official name irks Seunghyun, he doesn’t want to point it out to his boss, to draw attention to his own vexing. _It is not like we are in a life-threatening situation anymore. I simply cannot demand to be called by my name, he won’t be forgiving like he was earlier_ Seunghyun thinks, almost sadly. His emotions baffle him, and he thinks he has gone crazy to feel the way he does about names. 'Why don’t you go to the store and get me something to eat?' The Dragon says his voice sweet, tone charming. Seunghyun knows it’s all to get him to do what The Dragon wants, and there is no real intention or emotion behind it.

Seunghyun tells himself to be careful and logical after the The Dragon’s tone. He doesn’t have space to make mistakes if The Dragon has gone back to treating him the way he had before the whole attack happened. His shooting the officer will already bring him enough punishment, _There is point in having escaped from this if I get killed by him later_. The courage Seunghyun had once acquired from the life or death situation is no more.   

'But... We didn’t see any store on our way here' Choi replies to Jiyong in a diminutive voice, the man's confusion is very valid but hunger makes Jiyong impatient to the point that he misses out the slowly growing meekness in Choi’s voice and demeanour. Jiyong has never been much of a regular eater, his eating schedules, after the late nights he has, have always been a little fucked up. It was one of the reasons why he never made it to the gym when Seungri had previously called him out. He has come to regret the poor condition of his health during the attack today as his stamina quicker than he would have liked. Additionally, the physical and the emotional stress from escaping the attack has taken an obvious toll on his body increasing his appetite manifold. Jiyong feels famished. He feels like every cell in his body has burned away all the energy in the rush of the adrenaline and he needs replenishing immediately. Jiyong does feel tired but also like he also feels alive, something which he feels he hasn’t felt in a long while. He feels good about today in a weird. Jiyong also thinks that he might know what knights in silver armours feels like after a mission. Only downer is that his damsel in distress was a little dumb and unresponsive now. He smiles at his own metaphorical joke, before his stomach growls again, reminding of his incessant hunger.

Jiyong had found that there was something very comforting about the silence between his metaphorical damsel in distress and himself. He had revelled in it for a fair amount of time, letting his mind wander in a detached limbo where he had mental peace after all the stress of the day. Choi had been understanding enough to let him think, never trying to fill the silence. Jiyong appreciated this but he is not big on saying thanks to people. Moreover his thankfulness hadn’t lasted very long as Choi hadn’t initially obeyed his order to get food, prolonging his insufferable hunger.

'We walked in from East, if you take the opposite path and keep walking for a kilometre you will come across a store.' Jiyong replies like he is giving directions to kindergartner. He intentionally does this to offend, to draw a reaction. While his squabble with Choi earlier had opened up space for his subordinate to throw insults at him, Jiyong felt that it was a good way to break ice between them. Moreover the sassy side to Choi was very charming, especially when he lifted one eyebrow in challenge to something Jiyong said. _It’s all because I want to annoy him for entertainment, because I have none here._ Jiyong unnecessarily reasons with himself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologise for this delay, I have missed three updates which I will try and make up in the weeks to come.   
> I was at home for the holidays and shit hit the fan, everyone was sick and there was a new-born in the house. To summarise, it was very tiring. I tried to write but I just couldn't. I hope y'all understand.


	13. Finding Solace Part 2

The tone in which the instructions are given to him annoys Seunghyun to no end but he endures. He momentarily closes his eyes and lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. _I will not be baited this time, he is just finding more excuses to torture me later_ Seunghyun tells himself with conviction _Remember what Mino said._ Then it suddenly hits him. _The Dragon had known all along where we are_. 'Is this a safe house, then?' Seunghyun asks, his curiosity getting the better of his survival skills.

'Ah, you catch on quick, don’t you?' The Dragon replies, his tone sarcastic. Seunghyun can almost see the stupid smirk on his face, but he is patient enough to wait for a more elaborate answer. 'It's not a safe house, but I do know the area.’ The Dragon replies while looking at his hands. He pulls his legs to his chest rather slowly. Seunghyun wants to ask him more questions but something about his demeanour tells Seunghyun to wait, to give him due time. ‘Seoul is the best place to run away to. People and things which are lost here are hard to find' The Dragon says the next words like he is reminiscing about some past memory.

Something about the vague answer makes Seunghyun extremely curious as to what The Dragon is referring to. The way he put people and things in the same category shouldn’t surprise Seunghyun, because of The Dragon’s very occupation, but it does. There is a raw vulnerability in The Dragon at this moment, which Seunghyun thinks is the most genuine facet of his character he has ever seen, _Will ever be allowed to see._ He also senses a very personal tone laced in the words which were just spoken, which has made a clear shift in the mood between them. The last few statements The Dragon made makes him want to pry all the more. But before he can say a word, The Dragon gets up and walks to the slightly ajar door and leans against the frame, looking out into the dirty alleys. Seunghyun thinks his posture looks sad.

Even though he wants to question him further, ask for meanings of the statements The Dragon just made, Seunghyun reminds himself that this is not the right time and place. He forcibly brings immediate concerns to his attention after a lot of mental effort. This he thinks while The Dragon’s turns back towards him, and gives him a look before coming back to sit down opposite to him again, this time a little closer to Seunghyun, a little farther from the wall. The Dragon’s reply, Seunghyun thinks, was not the most informative, _but it will have to do for now._ 'I can’t go out in these clothes' Seunghyun replies, his voice softer, deeper almost instinctually, unconsciously soothing. It is an answer to the order which was given to him earlier, he knows he is refusing The Dragon but his current appearance would give both of them away. Seunghyun feels like all their hard work today to leave this city alive will go to waste from this silly mistake of going out in bloody clothes into the public eye. The tone of his own voice in retrospect would appear unnecessarily empathetic to him, but in the moment he doesn’t notice it. 

When Choi utters his next words, Jiyong takes a while to process their meaning, his head lost in the timbre of the man’s voice. His mind provides a stray image of himself lying with his head turned sideways on this stranger’s chest, hearing and feeling the rumble of his voice simultaneously, Jiyong sighs involuntarily. He gives his head a good shake, making a physical effort to get the image out of his mind. This is all unmarked area for Jiyong. He finding Choi's voice sexy earlier was a different case. That was purely physical. Finding comfort in the other man’s voice borders on areas Jiyong never visits in the predatory relationships he shares with the men he uses. The lack of time in his hands through the attack coupled with Choi’s sudden change in behaviour has left Jiyong no space to process this ‘thing’. For the lack of a better thought-out reply, considering how his mind is entirely mangled up, Jiyong says ‘you can take my sweater if you want’. As soon as the words are out of his mouth Jiyong feels uncomfortable at the soft, almost tender tone of his words. He has given the other man too much agency, too much space for argument, considering how he is his subordinate. The whiplash of how their sassy back and forth, and now this, confuses Jiyong more than he’d like to admit. Choi looks visibly flustered at the suggestion.

Seunghyun leans in involuntarily at the tone in which the words that come out of The Dragon’s voice, almost as if to comfort him physically. He also wants to laugh and cry all at the same time. He simply doesn’t understand the intentions behind The Dragon's suggestion to exchange clothes. _One moment he is bossy and all sarcastic but in the next he is soft, what is with the multiple personality business._ He leans back again feeling like he wants to pull his hair out in confusion. He doesn’t know how to react to the question, he would have agreed if it was a different situation because the talk of food has his own stomach grumbling. But his shoulder is still a major concern, he cannot imagine having to pull a sweater over his head in this condition.

The silence from Choi troubles Jiyong. He doesn’t know whether it is a rebellion or whether the other man too is simply processing his suggestion. Jiyong clears his throat and sits up straighter, assuming a more authoritative posture. His stomach is still grumbling. He assumes that if he closes up space for negotiation and gives clearer orders, thing will work faster.

‘Cat got your tongue?’ Jiyong says, all the tenderness gone from his voice, only leaving a tilt of annoying sass.

 _There we go again, this fucking whiplash_ Seunghyun wants to bash his own head in at this turn in tone, but he simply takes a long breath in to calm himself from taking any rash decisions. He has heard the same words from Seungri only a few weeks ago, unsurprisingly both of their tones are equally taunting. _Don’t let him drive you crazy_ Seunghyun takes another breath _God, he is driving me crazy._

‘My shoulder…’ Seunghyun replies in a small voice, in shame, as he throws to the wind all his ambition of being recognised for his sacrifice as he had brought himself to believe earlier.

‘What about it?’ Jiyong replies, sitting up a little more. He had nearly forgotten about the other man’s injury over the course of their walk to find a place for the night. After all he had found his old hiding place after a lot of mental effort, considering how he hadn’t been here in years. It had unintentionally slipped his mind, but the image of Youngbae falling to the ground was still fresh there and it is no secret that he’d like to see Choi suffer for it.

‘I… It’s...’ Seunghyun stutters, the same nervousness he has felt in The Dragon’s presence seeping into his veins again, making him feel more ashamed of himself.

‘Tell me’ Jiyong prompts calmly. In that moment, Jiyong recognises a little of the anxiety he had felt in speaking his mind when he was younger. He somehow speaks the words that he wanted to hear then.

‘My entire left. It hurts like crazy. The bullet is still…’ Seunghyun feels a little dumb pointing out the obvious _Idiot, it’s not like I made a stop to take the bullet out with my bare, dirty hands._ ‘I don’t think I can pull on a sweater’ Seunghyun finishes his little broken speech with a lot of effort.

Jiyong takes a moment to process all the little sentences that Choi just said. It looks like the man is in extreme pain, the impact of his fall coupled with the post trauma adrenaline drain must be causing hell in his shoulder, Jiyong should know, he has more than a couple of ugly gunshot wound scars under his tattoos. ‘The bullet has to stay. No way is it coming out now.’ Jiyong says, his authoritative again.

Seunghyun is in shock over these words. He had expected cruelty but he’s never thought that the other man will let him die from a gunshot wound infection, especially after all they had gone through today. _This was all for nothing._ He feels like he is being punished for what he did to his boss’ precious police officer, _even that man would have received first aid by now._ Some part of Seunghyun wants to protest but words won’t leave his mouth.

Jiyong finally notices the rather eerie calmness to the other man. When he looks at Choi he sees how the lines of his body are all tense like he is holding himself back from something he desperately wants to do. For a second Jiyong feels bad for the other man’s helplessness at the face of his authority. He knows he has quite literally burned down a bridge, however flimsy it was, which had formed during the escape between them. But his authoritative stance will only increase their efficiency as a unit still in the attempt to escape. He can rebuild that bridge later.

‘I’ll find you clothes to wear for now. After which we will go find a convenience store and collect information regarding transportation to Busan’ Jiyong continues without waiting for Choi to reply to his earlier statement. ‘We have to make a move tonight, get back to a safe zone as soon as possible’

Seunghyun finds himself nodding, which too has become hard for him at this point, but words will be harder. Another shiver racks down his spine, it is still summer and the way his body vibrates concerns him. _Am I getting a fever? This must be already becoming an infection._ The Dragon then gets up to go out of the small outhouse again, a little light falls on the man and his clothes. Seunghyun is envious of how his horrible pink sweater is still immaculate after all that had happened today. _At least he won’t have to change clothes._

Jiyong makes his way to the construction opposite to the outhouse. The numbers painted in white on the back door of the abandoned building has faded to a dirty light brown, almost making them hard to make out. When he feels Choi’s presence behind him, Jiyong takes a few measured steps back coming to stand beside Choi and gives the man a Cheshire smile before he takes a small jog and kicks the latch of the door open. The sound is comforting to Jiyong’s ears, bringing in a few nice memories of the time before.

Seunghyun watches on in wonder as The Dragon kicks a door open with practically no effort. The man had smiled at him before he rushed forward towards the now fallen door. Something about that smile stole Seunghyun’s breath for a second, it was boyish and mischievous, rendering that face more handsome than he’d ever found it before. _He looks so carefree_. The Dragon lets out a jubilant laugh and walks inside. Seunghyun followed more in awe than in obedience.

Once inside The Dragon started searching. Seunghyun wasn’t given any particular instructions, but he assumed it must be for the clothes that he had earlier talked about. His boss had looked confident while telling Seunghyun that he can find clothes in this desolate looking place. The room which they had entered, even with pitch black darkness encompassing them, save for the minimal light coming in from doorway, looked so broken down that Seunghyun assumes that nobody has lived here in a very long time. The Dragon is already on the other side of the large room, feeling his way through the broken walls. _Has he no fear? This place might have crawly insects and god knows what all? Snakes?_ Seunghyun nearly says the last word out loud but saves himself by covering his mouth with his hand, mostly in shock. _Oh god, please not snakes._ At this point Seunghyun would prefer to stand solitarily in the middle of the room and let his boss do all the work, but something tells him that it would get him in trouble, despite the new found carefree attitude in his boss. So Seunghyun grudgingly sets about to work, his eyes having now adjusted to the darkness. He hears The Dragon sighing and walking towards what looks the threshold of another door, presumably leading into another room. _Look at him leaving me here alone with all these snakes._

Jiyong knows he had left some clothes here the last time he was here. There is a good chance that the caretaker, who replaces the latch on the door every time he breaks in, might have found and disposed them but he had made particularly sure that he hid them well. He didn’t know then that they would come of use but he felt oddly attached to them because they were the first set of clothes he had bought, the first set he himself had went to the store and picked out. Jiyong had always liked clothes and he just didn’t want to throw them away, his first, at least not with his own hands. Jiyong looked through the corners of the first room and found nothing, his memory too vague to remember where exactly he’d left them in the old building. He is too wrapped in his head, too excited in finding this artifact from his own past that he doesn’t notice Choi’s hesitation in the middle of the room. He moves on to the next room and in the first corner, his hands touch the crinkly corner of a plastic bag. His breath quickens as he nearly tears open the plastic. When his hands touch the familiar texture of soft cotton, Jiyong knows. He’s found what he was looking for. He hadn’t lost this little piece he had left in no hopes of returning, in no hopes of surviving to come here again. ‘Ah’ He exclaims as he touches the fabric to his face, the plastic had saved it from the dust which covered all the surfaces in the building. Yet there was a smell of old cloth to it which Jiyong had never appreciated till in that moment. 

Seunghyun hears the crinkle of plastic from somewhere as soon as The Dragon goes into the next room, his mind immediately jumps to a slithering snake and he starts looking around frantically unable to locate the sound to be from the next room in his panic. Then he hears The Dragon saying ‘ah’ from the next room and his brain provides that the other man has been bitten. For a second he feels relieved that it was not him but then Seunghyun startles violently, his logic kicking in. _Shit, The Dragon is going to die of a snake bite, Seungri will torture me in a chamber of snakes._ Seunghyun rushes to the next room, nearly running there. His heavy yet quick footsteps ring out in the silence of the room after The Dragon’s single utterance.

When Seunghyun turns the corner, he bumps into another body. The pace of his running and the momentum of the forced stop puts him off balance. This coupled with the fact that his legs getting stuck at the threshold makes him fall forward. The body he’d hit falls backward with the weight of his.

Seunghyun’s entire body protests when they hit the ground, even though he doesn’t take the brunt of the fall. He feels bad The Dragon who is now beneath him. The fall had resulted in Seunghyun hitting his chin in The Dragon’s clavicle rather hard, but he was not ready to lift his face out of the other man’s neck, not yet. _I need a second, let the pain in my shoulder reduce a little_ Seunghyun argues with himself. Just like how. Even after the sort of day they’ve had, The Dragon smells pristine, as if he had just come out after a bath, of soap and after-shave musk. _This is nice_ Seunghyun takes a little more time than necessary to move his body off the man underneath him. When he moves he notices how The Dragon has his mouth open, as if his breath was knocked out of him. The receding adrenaline of his panic pushes a small giggle out of Seunghyun’s mouth before he can stop it. The Dragon turns his eyes on him, still baffled but a little challenging too, all while closing and opening his mouth like a fish underwater.

‘At least the snake didn’t bite you’ Seunghyun says in his defense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just literally threw them both together. When i edit i wanna tell them to cut the crap and fuck, but yeah. I gotta follow my plot line.  
> Also, Seungri Voldemort. hehe  
> Happy New Year everyone. Thanks yall for reading this.


	14. Finding Solace: The End

Jiyong is beyond baffled by Choi at this point. The man has his back turned towards him as he slowly peels off his bloody shirt. The piece of cloth with the blood seems to have stuck to his body hair. Jiyong knows that this exercise will end easier if done quicker but cannot bring himself to point this out to the other man. Back in the store a few hours ago he would have liked Choi’s state of half nakedness for very different reasons. Now looking at the man before him, nearly the whole of his upper body covered in dried blood, Jiyong feels a little responsible of having put him through this with no warning whatsoever. He knows the mafia, especially Yongseongyeog is an unpredictable business but yet he cannot bring himself to quell his guilt.  The man is unnaturally silent through the process of stripping, Jiyong noticing how the pain quickens his breathing, but otherwise not creating one sound to show the agony he must be going through. He wonders whether Choi has retracted himself into being that meek subordinate he was before the whole attack happened. He finds himself hoping not. This thought also puts a wall between them. Some part of Jiyong wants to help him but he finds that he cannot bring himself to assist the other man, who’s turned his back on him, literally and figuratively. Jiyong pegs this inability to him wanting revenge over the Youngbae shooting incident.

Jiyong in an attempt to distract himself thinks about the incident which had happened a few minutes ago. _What was that again? Snakes?_ Jiyong shakes his head in disbelief. His entire body had took the impact of the fall, the pain of it still reminiscent in his back and joints. The fall had thrown him into full shock, left him speechless for a full 10 minutes but he wouldn’t not say that there was something very thrilling in that moment of proximity. He also cannot lie about how he liked being under a man for once. _No stop, I don’t need this now. We need to get out this alive._ He then hopelessly bashes himself mentally for thinking ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. _Why did it have to be him who I am stuck with?_

_Why did it have to be him who I am stuck with?_ Seunghyun thinks as he bites his lip to restrain the groans from coming out of his mouth in the hopes that he would appear less cowardly than he had already exposed himself to be.  The whole falling over The Dragon business had quickly gotten embarrassing when his fear of snakes had subsided with The Dragon’s confirmation that he was unharmed. Seunghyun had held his own stating that The Dragon’s utterance had made him worried, that he felt his boss’ safety was his responsibility. When stating these things without a second thought on how plausible they sound, Seunghyun had realised something very important about himself. He can act, he can bluff and make it sound, in the least, convincing.

Seunghyun knows that changing his clothes is necessary for his survival. But that very illogical side of his mind, which also happens to controls all his fears (including the one for the damned snakes) is not ready to listen to reason. He had taken 2 minutes with every button, pondering and contemplating, convincing himself that on the other side of this horrible day awaited luxuries. His brain had provided how his thought process was very similar to that of the Muslim idea of Jihad.

Even though he has his back turned to his boss, Seunghyun knows that the other man’s eyes are on him. But the gaze, he somehow feels, is not as burning, intrusive as the one he felt on him in the store several hours ago. When he takes a peek back at his boss, he finds that his eyes which are on Seunghyun’s exposed back are a little vacant. The Dragon seems to be lost again, his mind somewhere else entirely. Seunghyun feels a little lonely in that moment.

‘This shirt was originally two or three sizes bigger than mine. So it should fit you just fine.’ The Dragon says distractedly as Seunghyun bends rather unnaturally, hiding as much of his body as he possibly can, to take the shirt from him. The cloth smells old but the shirt in itself doesn’t look dirty to him in the little light which comes into the building through the door that his boss had expertly broke into. Seunghyun puts in his right arm through one sleeve and finds the shirt a size smaller than his. The cloth sits snugly on his arm and Seunghyun flexes to see whether it is tight enough to tear but fortunately it doesn’t.

Jiyong is brought back to the present when his brain wreaks havoc on him regarding the sight of Choi’s arms in the tight shirt, the flexing muscles outlined by the white cloth looking all the more attractive. At this point Jiyong should be used to the man before him, who is pulling on _his_ shirt. After all it was only few hours ago he had seen him in a similar attire. _How can I be so winded at this?_  When the man shows some difficulty in putting his left hand into the sleeve, Jiyong almost rushes forward for the first two steps, stops momentarily and then walks coolly with the _only_ intention to help the man.

When he hears rushed footsteps behind him, Seunghyun freezes not knowing how to react. His anxiety regarding his state of undress returns full force from the box he had pushed it into only mere minutes before. He is unable to move a muscle as fingers graze his arms pulling the tight shirt into place on his left arm. Seunghyun’s body breaks out in shivers without his consent, his breathing turning erratic too quickly for him to control. Before he can analyse all this, by pure muscle memory he knows and can begin to feel the oncoming of pure dread. The Dragon’s fingers pause on his skin for a second at the physical changes that Seunghyun is showing and then he steps away from him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Seunghyun knows his trigger has been removed but the illogical fear doesn’t subside.  

‘I am glad you cleaned the wound as much as you could with your shirt, or it would have stained this one too’ Jiyong says in a careful voice. Choi’s physical changes screamed panic to him, but Jiyong doesn’t know the man well enough to know what triggered it, so he undid the last thing he did. He knows from experience that it won’t stop the storm from coming. All of it screams familiarity at Jiyong, reminding him of only unpleasant things from a part of his past he’d most successfully buried. Jiyong feels a deep need to comfort Choi but he doesn’t know how, he himself having never been helped through one of these.

Seunghyun loses hope of controlling it when he understands the onset is much quicker than he has ever experienced before. _I am going to die_ his chest is burning despite the quick hollow breaths he is taking in. His body bends over in pain which he cannot bring himself to believe is not real. His eyes sting but he is unable to register the tears in his frantic fear of something he doesn’t understand. _He’s going to touch me again--impure._

What Choi doesn’t seem to know is that he is vocalising his thoughts and what started out as muttering becomes clear words later. Jiyong cannot help but freeze at the meaning behind them, at how he understands them on a very deep level. The man is now sitting on the floor holding onto his chest and heaving really hard that an inexperienced eye would have suspected a heart attack. A feeling of helplessness rushes over Jiyong in that moment. _What do I do? What do I do? I don’t know how to help him._ He decides to go by instinct.

‘Choi, listen to me. It’s okay, I’m here now, I won’t let anyone lay a hand on you, I promise. You won’t die either, we didn’t come this far just to die here in this shack. You’re better than that’ Jiyong says, the confidence in his voice all fake, while he tentatively walks around the man to face him, all while keeping a safe distance between them both. Jiyong then seats himself across from the man at a distance of someting a little less than a meter.

Seunghyun is aware of a presence sitting before him on the floor but he cannot bring himself to recognise the person or the voice in the ruckus of what is happening in his head at the moment. _Oh my god, I can feel his hands on me. Nobody can save me, he will take me._ Seunghyun feels nauseous but is aware of how his stomach is empty, the lunch that he ate long digested.

Jiyong inevitably feels sympathy for the man before him, knowing where he is coming from. He also momentarily thinks of how there is a lot to Choi than he had thought initially, that for once the observation skills he had honed for years for the smooth running of his orgainsation, had failed him miserably. ‘Listen to me, honey’ Jiyong wants to bash himself immediately after the term of endearment slips from his mouth, but something tells him it will help. ‘He cannot take you, I have guns and I will shoot him if he comes near you. All you’ve got to do is breathe okay? In and out, that’s all you’ve got to do.’

_Honey_ the word drifts into Seunghyun’s muddled, chaotic mind. It’s a word of love his mother used for him whenever his younger self threw a tantrum or had a bad moment. Seunghyun knows the voice he hears is not his mother’s but something about the word itself is comforting. Time has stretched out to him weirdly, the ten minutes that these storms waged inside his head usually take, should be over by now. But Seunghyun has no trustable way of knowing. He lifts his eyes all while breathing unsteadily to see a slender figure shrouded in darkness, nothing like the figure of the man who haunts him. The sight too somehow calms him.

Choi has stopped muttering and has turned his eyes on Jiyong. Something about the gaze, even in the dark is burning on him. It is different from the way most men has looked at Jiyong before, like he means something to Choi. He returns the gaze when it reaches his eyes. ‘It’s going to be alright, you’ll be fine. I’ll make sure you’re fine’ as soon as the words out of Jiyong’s mouth, Choi leans forward, clumsily getting up on his knees, sways and falls into Jiyong the second time in the very same night. He instinctually catches him, Choi’s face hitting Jiyong’s chest in the uncoordinated movement of his body.

Something urged Seunghyun to seek the warmth that looked available, open and comforting, to him. His mind stripped of inhibitions just followed suit with his needs. Arms catch him when Seunghyun falls forward and he digs his face into the crook of a neck, his breathing slowly calming down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this dragging on too long?


	15. Nail Polish Part 1

When Seunghyun lifts his head out The Dragon’s shoulder he inevitably blushes, words in apology stuttering out of his mouth which making no sense to himself. But a hand on his shoulder, placed there in warm comfort, tells him that there is nothing to worry about. Seunghyun wonders at the transition which has happened in his attitude towards the man before him. He was definitely not anticipating such a change. He feels a certain sort of respect for his feared boss, for not freaking down at his breakdown, for speaking Seunghyun through it all. When he lifts his head to look at his boss, his gaze already seems to be on Seunghyun. He feels greatly placate by how uncritical that gaze is.  A smile graces The Dragon’s features for Seunghyun, the whole expression looking rather odd on him. Seunghyun feels a pressing urge to laugh at this failed attempt of a smile, but also to cry, in gratitude. Something about it all assures him that he won’t be asked intrusive questions, that he won’t be prodded for answers he is not ready to give. He wipes all the tears from his face messily as he tries to get up, noticing a dark patch on The Dragon’s pink sweater. The hideous thing had looked immaculate all day, had irritated Seunghyun to no end, only to get ruined at his own hands. Once Seunghyun stands erect, The Dragon moves to stand up too, as if he had been waiting to see whether Seunghyun would stumble, to catch him.

There is dust on Choi’s butt, but Jiyong is unsure to touch the man again without understanding his triggers. Moreover touching his ass now wouldn’t be the right course of action, _or will it?_ The new shirt on Choi is still unbuttoned, Jiyong wants to button him up too. _Stop, turn away. Stop thinking that shit._ Jiyong then wonders whether it is right to ask him what triggered this sudden attack or was it random. _It started around when I put my hands on him, it can’t be random._ He knows it would be crossing boundaries to ask about what happened in the past, especially questions about who the man Choi kept mentioning is. He knows that he is not entitled to ask these questions just because he sat through one mere attack. Maybe in time, _later,_ he can. At the same time Jiyong recognises from Choi’s words mid-attack that there was abuse involved most probably, but the words addressed are not to the attacker, but to another person. He can only come to the conclusion that Choi’s call for help was not acknowledged immediately when this whole event must have happened. These are all assumptions that Jiyong makes, he needs more information to confirm this.

When Seunghyun stood up, he realised that his right leg had fallen asleep. He walked around for a bit, trying to get the pin-pricking in his leg to subside. He had noticed how his shirt was left open and had quickly buttoned it up while being turned away The Dragon. He can hear his boss thinking at this point, the man’s expressions giving him away. Seunghyun is not ready to lose him again, _did I ever have him?_ So he clears his throat rather loudly. The Dragon startles and leaves the front room of the old building for the second one inside, probably to go to where from where he had retrieved the shirt from. Seunghyun has an odd moment to wonder how much this place is related to The Dragon’s past, in what situation had his boss put away clothes here. _What conditions had driven him to come here?_ Seunghyun hears some plastic rustling from where The Dragon is, and mentally bashes himself for the snake fiasco earlier. He still feels embarrassed whenever the thought of that fall enters his mind. _He had smelled nice though_ his brain provides unnecessarily.  

Jiyong wraps the other clothes up in the plastic and leaves it exactly where he found them. Call him sentimental, but he felt like he was leaving his children behind. _First child_ his brain feeds him, reminding him how these clothes were the first he ever brought. After he is done with his task, he brushes himself off the dust on his pants and sweater, coming across a dark patch on his shoulder. When Jiyong touches it, it is still wet from all of Choi’s tears and snot deposited there. Instead of feeling disgusted, he only can recognise an odd feeling of endearment. Jiyong knows he is dancing into dangerous areas here, but he pushes the thought to the back of his mind, _I’ll deal with it later._

Seunghyun in the little gap he gets when his boss is away, checks his shoulder quickly. The whole area around the gunshot wound looks pink, but the bleeding has stopped entirely. _Maybe it is only right not to touch it now,_ maybe _the boss is right._ Seunghyun sighs and pulls his shirt back in place, right when The Dragon walks out of the room.

‘Are we ready to leave?’ The Dragon asks Seunghyun, leaving him a little baffled at how his boss was asking him, instead of just ordering him around.

‘Y-Yes, sir’ Seunghyun replies. The Dragon then walks out of the front door and Seunghyun scrambles to keep pace with him.

Seunghyun doesn’t keep track of where they are going, only of how many times The Dragon turns back to check on him through the walk. He then remembers leaving the store earlier that day, of how The Dragon had never checked on him or Park, the bodyguard who had died in Seunghyun’s arms. He recognises the change in pattern but is unable to decipher the meaning behind it. They come out onto the main road from a side alley which is right opposite to a convenience store. The Dragon stops abruptly, Seunghyun nearly bumping into him again.

‘Choi, where’s your gun?’ The Dragon asks as he scouts the area.

‘Tucked in my belt, under my shirt sir’ Seunghyun replies, his eyes on the alley they are about to leave.

They are both standing with their backs facing each other, one watching the area they are about to walk into and the other has his eyes trained on the area that they are walking out of. All of this has been unplanned, no words exchanged between them. Till now, they were in a twilight zone, safe, away from the eyes of the cops and the public but once they step out into the street that will end. They will immediately be under surveillance. The stakes to their survival will rise exponentially, but staying in the dark will not get them anywhere either.  

When Jiyong feels that he’s seen enough of his surrounding to deem them safe, he turns back to the man behind him. Choi is keeping guard of his back, Jiyong smiles involuntarily _this one is a quick learner._ He then notices the clear outline of the gun in the man’s belt, the tight fabric of the shirt sticking to it, accentuating its presence there.

‘Choi, you’ve got to adjust your gun. It’s too visible under you shirt, tuck it into your pants more.’ Jiyong says in a rather soft tone.

Seunghyun cannot help but assume that the soft tone in The Dragon’s voice is to not give away their position in the alley. The reasoning sounds stupid, even to himself, but it is the only one that fits. Seunghyun tucks the gun more into his pants, all while wriggling around making his shoulder hurt. Seunghyun lets a pained groan slip out his mouth, surprising The Dragon and himself.

Jiyong would have liked to do it for Choi but the incidents from earlier keeps him from crossing his boundaries again. ‘Have you turned on the safety, Choi?’ Jiyong asks suddenly, hoping for an affirmation especially with how the other man had wriggled around with a gun pointed into his pants.

‘Urm… Would I have enough time to turn it off if we are under attack?’ Choi replies, a clear no to Jiyong’s question. Jiyong wants to facepalm himself. He knows it is only Choi’s inexperience speaking now. But he still wants to admonish him for this profound mistake.

‘Well, would it do us any good if you shoot yourself?’ Jiyong replies. His tone back to being snarky again. _Especially in the ass, that sweet ass_ Jiyong completes the rest of the question in his head.

‘No sir’ Seunghyun says, turning to look at the dirty ground under him. The tone of The Dragon’s words have turned into snarky again but Seunghyun feels safer in it. He is used to the sass, not the displaced feeling of affection from The Dragon, which he is just unable to process. Seunghyun takes out the gun and pulls the safety on, The Dragon sighs beside him. Seunghyun puts the gun back in his belt again.

‘Turn around, Choi. Let me see it’ Jiyong instructs taking one more look at the street they are facing once more, checking whether any of the sparse number of people on the street had noticed them.  

Seunghyun duly obeys him.

Jiyong notices that the gun can be better tucked in, that the outline is still pretty visible. Choi’s black slacks are pretty loose on him, so if the gun is pushed in there better no one will suspect its presence. If they go in that convenience store and is found, police will be called on them immediately. All the hard work that they had put in today to survive will go to shit.

‘Choi, it is not in properly. May I adjust it for you?’ Jiyong asks, knowing that the question for consent will bring better results than surprising an already agitated Choi.

‘Y-yes, sir. Please.’ Seunghyun finds him replying. He is equally baffled by the asking for permission as he is with his own answer, but he decides that he is also acutely thankful for it.

Jiyong approaches Choi with the intention of letting their skin touch as least as possible, to keep distance till he can understand the reason for the breakdown earlier. Choi lifts his shirt while Jiyong pulls his belt.

‘Is this uncomfortable, is it digging into your-’ Jiyong pauses to find a better word ‘-behind?’ his tone unsure of the word itself.

‘Its fine, sir.’ Seunghyun replies solemnly, a smile on his face at The Dragon’s unsure tone and vocabulary.

When it is done, Jiyong pulls out the small wad of cash from his pocket that Youngbae had given him, passing it into Choi’s hands ‘Count out this cash, quickly. I’ll be right back after checking the area for cameras.’ His tone back to authoritative again.

Seunghyun counts the cash in the little light from a streetlight in the corner of the street they are facing, only to find that they are very short on money. They can take a cheap bus to Busan, if Seunghyun’s assumption of the ticket prices are approximately right. But that’s about it, the spare cash will only be enough to buy them both one instant ramen. _At least we have this, I hope the drama queen doesn’t throw a fit._

The Dragon walks back briskly from wherever he went to, nearly bumping into Seunghyun when he turned the corner to the alley.

‘How much do we have?’ Jiyong asks. His experience in handling cash had told him as soon as he took the cash out of his pocket, that they are short. His much awaited dinner probably will have to be foregone. _So much for burning all the energy in my body in an attack and finally getting hungry._ Jiyong had thought. With this line of thought had Jiyong only remembered his burning hunger in that shack of an outhouse earlier in the evening. He had completely forgot about it in the face of Choi and his breakdown, after which his mind had been all about the other man. When this thought kicked in, Jiyong had passed the money to the other man and had left, however briefly, for a breather. From Choi, from their infectious proximity.

‘Not enough’ Choi replies, looking solemn. ‘If my assumptions are right regarding ticket prices, then we barely have money for one ramen, sir.’ His tone and manner becoming more crestfallen with each word. Jiyong finds it cute, only to tell himself to stop thinking shit.

‘Then we’ll eat one ramen I guess’ Jiyong says.

Seunghyun wonders what had happened to the other man’s huge appetite, to all his incessant orders for food. Seunghyun only nods to this statement.

‘Let’s divide the work, so we don’t have to stay out in the open for long. I’ll pick up the ramen, while you ask for details regarding the nearest bus stop which has buses to Busan’ Jiyong says, his tone bordering on an order but not really. ‘Be nonchalant about it all, okay? Don’t come off as nervous or anything.’ Jiyong would have taken this responsibility up for himself but he has never been much of a people’s person. He feels that he will blow the cover more quickly than Choi will. ‘Let’s do this as fast as possible. In and out. No trouble'

Seunghyun nods at the instructions again, wondering why he had been delegated with the harder part of the job. They leave the shadowed area of the alley towards the store in a brisk walk. As soon as Seunghyun pulls the door open, The Dragon heads out to an aisle to search for their dinner. Seunghyun approaches the middle-aged lady behind the counter for the information. When they are about to leave both having acquired the things that they had initially, the lady stops them abruptly giving The Dragon a dirty look.

‘Stop, I am going to call the cops on you’ she says. Choi freezes completely, while Jiyong feels it’s the right time to run out the door.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the reassurance. I think i'll wrap up this thread in another chapter or so.   
> But yeah, they in deep shit now.


	16. Nail Polish Part 2

As soon as Seunghyun pulls the door open, The Dragon heads out to one of the aisle to search for their dinner. Seunghyun seeing how The Dragon has promptly started dealing with his part of the plan, approaches the middle-aged lady behind the counter. To get all the information that he has been asked to acquire, Seunghyun makes pointers in his head regarding the questions he has to ask. The lady looks over 50, dressed in a light pink cardigan and skirt. She appears really tired and Seunghyun makes a pointer to not disturb her for long. _Probably she is the owner of the store. Don’t mess this up, one job we have, one job!_ Seunghyun tells himself as he makes his way up to her. When Seunghyun stands by the counter shifting from one foot to another, like a nervous 5 year old in front of a candy shop with no money, the woman looks up from the newspaper she is holding. She has a pair of glasses perched low on her nose, she pushes them up to look at Seunghyun. She gives him a once over and Seunghyun tries to smile. What shows on his face looks more like a grimace. Seunghyun knows that if he doesn’t ask the necessary question now, he never will. 

‘Hello ma’am’ Seunghyun says, his words all in formal, respectful Korean. The lady tilts her chin down and gives him a more intense look. _Where are all the nice people in the world? Why do I have to deal with all these scary people?_ ‘Erm… How much are those cigarettes?’ Seunghyun says pointing to the cigarette cabinet behind the lady, containing all these fancy brands that he will definitely not be able to afford right now.

’10,000 won’ she replies in a monotone, making no effort to continue the conversation. Seunghyun gulps at the shortness of this reply, which leaves no chance for further small talk.

‘So… uh…’ Seunghyun stutters, wanting to curse at himself.

‘What do you want, boy?’ the lady asks, tone confident. For a second Seunghyun envies her the nonchalance.

He looks behind him to see where The Dragon is, whether his boss is watching his failure to do his assigned task. But the man is nowhere to be seen. The mirror hung up on the wall above the entrance door shows his boss to be in the back, looking through packets of what Seunghyun assumes, from his distance, is ramen. He is safely out of earshot, and therefore is not a witness to Seunghyun’s embarrassment at the hands of this frail looking convenience store lady. The next words when Seunghyun utters comes after quite a prominent pause in his speech.

‘Directions to the nearest bus stand?’ He says quickly, faintly; though finally getting coherent, useful words out of his mouth.

‘Where are you going?’ The lady counter questions him. For a second, Seunghyun wonders whether anything has given them away but the lady looks at him calmly. He then notices how her eyes occasionally check his boss in the mirror. Seunghyun can only hope to god that the other man does his job without any improvisations from their original plan and possible trouble.

‘Busan. Would you know anything about when the next bus goes to Busan? We are new here and we got lost while walking around.’  Seunghyun explains with an unnecessary amount of hand gestures. After his little speech, he feels proud for rendering it without mishaps. There is a full two minute silence in which the lady seems to be analysing his very existence.

‘Oh you’re from Busan then?’ the woman breaks out in satoori all of a sudden, a friendly smile gracing her once beautiful features. Seunghyun breathes properly for the first time after entering the store.

‘Yes, yes’ he replies quickly, a proper smile filling out his face in return. He lets his full Busan satori on his words not restraining it like he would with other strangers in Seoul.

‘Oh, I knew as soon as you came in through that door that you were not from Seoul.’ The lady gushes, folding and putting aside her paper to sit up, all ready to have a conversation with Seunghyun. ‘It is so nice to meet a young man from the province here. All these spoiled Seoul brats keeps grating on my nerves’ Seunghyun smiles along to her speech cordially, unable to decide how to respond to any of this. ‘Ohhh, you’re not much of a talker, are you?’ the lady continues, talkative mode now on fifth gear.

_Oh fuck, not again. Is it that evident? When will people ever stop telling me this?_ Seunghyun thinks as a reply to her question, not letting one single word out of his mouth.

‘So much like my husband, haha!’ she tells him, coyly touching his elbow. _Is she hitting on me now? When will people ever stop doing this?_ ‘Talking about him, he works in Busan still. I go over in the weekends, so I can tell you all about the bus timings’ she continues, giving Seunghyun a wink. _Great, she is definitely flirting, I am so done._ Seunghyun smiles back kindly.

Seunghyun understands that he is being prompted for a reply here but he simply doesn’t want to continue talking to this creepy lady anymore. But then again his survival is dependent on the information that she is ready to give. He decides it is in his best interest that he entertain this lady. ‘I am sorry, ma’am it is true that I don’t talk much. You know how Busan men don’t talk all that much right?’ Seunghyun says sweetly, throwing even a fake laugh in for effect. ‘It is really nice to meet you too. I’ve just been here a day but I already miss Busan and the people there.’ Seunghyun replies. Having to brainstorm to find things to talk about initially, he is surprised to notice how once his words spill out when he has to speak now. ‘I also work in Busan, but was send here on an errand from the organisation we work for. That is my co-worker in the back looking for ramen, he is hungry even after dinner’ Seunghyun says gesturing towards The dragon, letting out a small laugh again. The other man is still in the back somewhere when Seunghyun looks at him through the mirror on the wall again. ‘We finished work early, so we decided to walk around a bit because both of us has not been to Seoul a lot before, but we got lost. And then, thankfully we found this store’ Seunghyun again surprises himself at his ease in lying, in acting, once he is in the right headspace.

‘Yeah, you both got really lucky. The last bus is at 11 pm. You still have a little more than an hour I think’ she says looking at the clock behind her. Seunghyun is momentarily baffled by how much time has passed since they escaped from the mall. He had lost count of it in the presence of the man who was now browsing something in the freezer which they definitely cannot afford. ‘Oh and the bus stop is also nearby, only like half a kilometre if you take a right from the end 0f this street’ she says cheerfully as she brings out a _pink_ plastic massager for her neck.  

Seunghyun bows in thanks to the lady, _thank god we don’t have to walk any longer, my shoulder is killing me._ He feels like his work here is done. He turns to look at his boss to find him standing in the women’s cosmetics section. Seunghyun feels if they hang around here any longer, things have a chance of going wrong, so he decides to speed it up. ‘Jiyong?’ Seunghyun says testily, his voice an octave deeper than usual, trying his best to not show any discomfort or nervousness in using that holy name. He can only hope the man won’t take offence, considering how he had put their survival before anything else in such a _risky_ situation. The Dragon startles as if Seunghyun has woken him from a reverie and walks with his head lowered, to him. Seunghyun does not know whether to see the whole demeanour the other man is showing as submissive. He just thinks it is unusual, even though he has not interacted with his boss a lot to have experience in what is normal for the other man. ‘Got everything you wanted?’ Seunghyun asks again, to which Jiyong only nods without lifting his head.

‘Bill these, please. Thank you’ Jiyong says to the woman at the counter leaving a cup ramen on the billing belt. The woman Seunghyun notice seems to have gone into defensive mode again. _It must be the pink sweater that set her off. But it’s not like everything she has is not pink._ Seunghyun thinks, before coming to the realisation that he has come so far as to defend Jiyong and his hideous pink sweater. The woman takes the ramen to scan it, all while eyeing Jiyong closely. Seunghyun feels an instinctual need to stand before Jiyong, to cover him from the woman’s searching glances. Seunghyun pays for the ramen and they are about to leave both having acquired what they came looking for when the lady progressively starts giving The Dragon the dirtiest look imaginable. Seunghyun wonders what he has done to gain this animosity, _does she know him from before? Did he mess around with her in Busan?_ Right when Seunghyun opens the door for Jiyong, the lady shouts behind them.

‘Hey, you in the pink sweater, stop right there. Don’t step out of the door.’ The woman says behind them, Seunghyun turns back in confusion, looking at the lady questioningly.

‘Ma’am, what is the trouble?’ Seunghyun asks in his clear voice, unable to comprehend the lady’s issues with Jiyong. _She doesn’t know him from before,_ Seunghyun lays down the conclusion in his head _if she did she would have recognised him when he stepped into the store._ Jiyong puts a hand on top on the one Seunghyun has on the door which he had let close when the woman shouted earlier. Jiyong applies a pressure on Seunghyun’s hands pushing the door open.

‘Stop, I am going to call the cops on you’ she says. Seunghyun freezes at the door completely, uncomprehending of what is happening in his panic. Jiyong then steps up to him real close, stands on his toes, leaning in. For a second Seunghyun panics more, thinking this going somewhere else. 

‘Run’ Jiyong says in his ear, voice but a whisper in the ruckus the lady is creating behind them.

His body automatically listens to the other man’s voice following him blindly, as they dash down the streets of Seoul together. The woman comes out of the doors of the store and starts shouting at them as they run away. Two or three people in the street watch on the whole incident without giving any sort of reaction.  

Seunghyun’s shoulder hurts every time he takes a step, the effort to run making his entire body scream in protest. But simultaneously the thought of getting caught, pushes enough adrenaline into his veins. Jiyong is running ahead but takes periodic looks back at Seunghyun, which to be honest he is very thankful for. When they are three streets away from the store, Seunghyun keeping track of direction, Jiyong stops after being half way into another dark alley, like the one they previously came out of before going to the store. Seunghyun, once they stop, immediately doubles over in pain, feeling blood on his shoulder again. The wound which had clotted over has started bleeding again because of the rapid movement and exertion the body had gone through. Tears burn in Seunghyun’s eyes as the pain burns through his entire upper body. He looks up to see that Jiyong is leaning against a dumpster too, he too looking tired and worn from having to run again after all that they went through today. Jiyong turns to look at him too and smiles mischievously, all while trying to catch his breath, his long-ish black hair hanging over his forehead handsomly. Seunghyun then knows that Jiyong took something from that store, without paying for it. _Shoplifting._

‘You called me my name in the store?’ Jiyong asks, his words irregularly forming a sentence, as he is still out of breath.

‘Is that what is important now? We need to keep running or that lady will call the police on us’ Seunghyun says, hating himself for that very unfavourable suggestion.

‘Nah it’s okay. She won’t call anyone. How many times can the police come for petty convenience store thefts in a bad downtown area like this?’ The Dragon says his face still having that smile which is now starting to trouble Seunghyun greatly.

‘Sorry for calling you your name, I told her you were my colleague’ Seunghyun says as he gets up and stands erect. For the first time that evening he notices how The Dragon is shorter than him, Seunghyun can’t keep the smirk off his face.

‘Yeah I heard it all, you’re a better liar than I gave you credit for.’ The Dragon replies.

‘So what did you take from the store? Food? Water?’ Seunghyun asks, hopeful. He hates the other man for making him run with his injured shoulder but, if it is because of something that they really need, then it is forgivable.  

‘Nail polish’ The Dragon says with a gleeful smile on his face and Seunghyun feels like breaking that face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come shout at me. Thanks for all the comments and Kudos.


	17. Nail Polish:The End

Jiyong had gone into the store with the sole aim to finish the goals that he had set for himself, all while expecting nothing short of the best from Choi too. He had given Choi enough space and time to talk to the woman behind the counter, occasionally keeping in check whether the needed was done. When Choi stuttered in the beginning Jiyong had held his breath, his hand freezing half way extended towards a cup ramen on a shelf. He had prayed that he wouldn’t have to intervene, knowing that such an instance would only aggravate their already dire circumstances.

Choi had caught up to the situation quickly, once the words were clear, the conversation had flowed seamlessly. Jiyong had immediately thought back of all the instances when the other man had been silent in a tense situation but had slowly warmed up to proper words. In their occupation this time loss can be disastrous, but Jiyong had to give credit to the other man for building a quality conversation. Jiyong can never imagine any of his other subordinates weaving such a story, maybe Seungri, but no one else. From an objective viewpoint, Choi’s story was indisputably unsuspicious. Jiyong had walked through the aisles blindly running his eyes and hands over the neatly arranged products, none of which he can afford to buy right now. It was ironic how he wanted everything here now, that he was really hungry, all when he had none of his endless cash to spare.

Jiyong had eventually picked up the largest cup ramen for the cheapest of prices, not caring about the flavour and had decided to keep browsing to give Choi more time. When Choi’s conversation with the lady started running dry, nearly coming to an end, Jiyong was in the last aisle. Right when he was about to approach Choi and the lady at the counter, Jiyong’s eyes had fell on the small collection of nail polishes arranged neatly in the women’s cosmetics section. He couldn’t stop himself from picking a deep red shade and looking at it in the light tube which was illuminating the small store, above him. _Beautiful_ he had thought. The image of his nails painted in the eye-catching colour was enticingly wrapped around Jiyong’s mind. He was reminded of a time in the past, when he had used the liquid magic in similar little bottles like this; to escape from his harsh reality, to keep his hands busy on the days when they wanted to hurt themselves, when they wanted to inflict pain on him.  

He wanted the nail polish so bad, especially after the stressful day he has been through, but billing it is obviously not an option. The small vial was cheap, but not cheap enough to leave them enough money for two bus tickets to Busan. It was almost instinctual how Jiyong had slipped the bottle into the sleeve of his loose sweater, the movement of the act seamless, almost involuntary.

‘Jiyong’ a deep voice had called. For a second, Jiyong had thought it was one of the monsters in his past. He had momentarily forgotten how he himself had put a bullet in that very monster’s head. He had startled at the rendition of his name, but the embarrassment of his fear had swept over him in a strong wave, causing him to walk to the counter with his head lowered.

Jiyong could feel the woman giving him dirty looks even though he had not looked at her directly yet. Unfortunately he wrongly assumes that it is his unmanly appearance and attire that is irking her rather than his questionable actions. This misses him because of how confident he is in his shoplifting skills. He might be rusty from having to not do this for a while now, but on the other hand he thinks he definitely knows what to do to get away. _If anything goes wrong, we’ll just run away_ Jiyong thinks, his head wrapped in the gleeful excitement of the moment, forgetting about the poor condition Choi is in. When the woman stops them at the door, Jiyong finds himself very surprised but he somehow quickly recovers and asks Choi to run. The running takes the wind out of him, his body already tired from the action of the whole day, the lack of food and water only adding to it. But something about it still makes him feel good, nostalgic even, about all the little escapes he had planned and executed into the grey area of Seoul.

The two men had, after the taxing run, found themselves in the darkness of another alley, which looked a lot like the one they had come out of a little earlier. Jiyong had felt exhilarated as he leaned on the dumpster. When he had turned to look at Choi, he was already looking at Jiyong. The other man was kneeling on the floor, clutching on to his shoulder. Jiyong registers how the wound must be giving him trouble due to all the running, but he selfishly dismisses the thought in favour of his own excitement. This results in him giving Choi his best shit eating grin.

He then remembers Choi’s usage of his first name, the deep tone he had used. In retrospect, the usage doesn’t irk him anymore as it had in the store earlier. In fact, it somehow only adds to the feeling of exhilaration which is now settling deep in Jiyong’s tummy. He feels like taunting Choi, _or should I call him by his first name too? What was his first name again?_

Jiyong duly takes a jab at him, questioning him about the name slip back in the store. But much to Jiyong’s late realisation, Choi is a quick learner. He responds back with the equal amount of sass Jiyong had shown him only a little while back, before they had entered the store in a similar alley. Jiyong is hit with a odd sense of déjà vu as he dismisses Choi’s fears of being chased down by the police for a petty convenience store theft.

Then the man apologises for the slip-up, leaving Jiyong very confused. He doesn’t know whether to ask him to keep using his first name to address him or to admonish him for disrespecting Jiyong. The smirk on Choi’s face at the end of it makes Jiyong wonder whether he is really sorry or he just apologised to boost Jiyong’s ego. For the lack of a better reply Jiyong comments on Choi’s lies, which in turn evokes more questions from Choi. _Is he getting more confident or what?_

The questions show how quick witted Choi is, especially to catch on to the fact that Jiyong has obviously stolen something from the store. Jiyong connects it back to how everything from the lies in the store to today’s gunmanship in the mall is showing of how Choi is smarter than he lets on.

Jiyong finds himself happy to answer to Choi’s question. He likes giving unpredictable answers so he proudly says _nail polish,_ going on to hold up the small glass vial, filled with the deep red polish, he had hidden in his sleeve. And then all hell breaks loose.

When Seunghyun realises that all the pain he is suffering right now, this blood soaking the fabric on his shoulder, was for this horrible man before him(who is still smiling, much to Seunghyun’s annoyance), to steal a _stupid-fucking-nail-polish,_ Seunghyun absolutely loses it.

For a second Choi looked baffled, shocked at Jiyong’s words. Then the next, Jiyong witnesses the expression changing into something profoundly angry and cruel. Choi stands in a rush, swinging on his feet, the imbalance caused from the speed of his own movements. The predatory glare Choi has fixed on Jiyong, scares him, slightly. Jiyong expects a hit, a slap or a punch on his face, but Choi rushes forward to only land an angry kick on the dumpster Jiyong was leaning on. The action nonetheless shocks Jiyong, causing him to fall to the ground, on his butt. It is unusual for him to see a subordinate’s anger, especially in such an unadulterated form. Jiyong looks on, unable to take his eyes off the man. For the second time that day, Jiyong feels like he is seeing Choi for the first time.

He then turns on Jiyong, heaving in pain and unbridled anger. ‘Fuck you and fuck the mafia’ spitting out each word. Jiyong wants to smile, the initial shock now having passed. On one hand, the whole thing is comical and on the other, he feels like he is seeing a rarely observed part of Choi. The other man kicks up more garbage and Jiyong can’t help the smile on his face now.

‘What you fucking smiling about, asshole? Don’t you dare smile. Ever since I met you I haven’t had one night’s proper sleep. You are the devil, you know that?’ Choi shouts at him. Jiyong thinks he is beautiful. ‘What **are** you anyway? One minute you shove things up people asses and kill them, the next you act like a total twink. If you’re a mafia lord, fucking act like it and stopping crying after an attack, you motherfucker. Stop confusing me and everyone. What do you fucking want, huh?’  Jiyong is taken aback by these words and the effect they have on him. For the first time in a long while, he feels hurt from the words of another person. He is baffled at how and when he had given the other man that sort of power over him. What Jiyong had seen playful till now turns into something ugly, all too quickly. He lifts his eyes from where he is sitting on the dirty ground to give Choi steady eye contact.

Something in The Dragon’s eyes challenges Seunghyun for more, to give himself over to the anger, to fall from a cliff he was standing right at the edge of for some time now. There is a latent tiredness settling deep into his bones, the day’s physical effort coupled with the emotional backlashes drowning him, but the anger demands retribution and Seunghyun cannot bring himself to refuse.

Choi suddenly has his hands on Jiyong’s sweater all of a sudden, holding the wool against his neck. He shakes Jiyong to and fro. ‘I will never forget how you killed that Headman’s son in the church, without even flinching. You are filthy piece of shit, a monster. You use innocent people’s lives to live yours in luxury. You don’t deserve anything. You will always be hated for what you are’

These words Seunghyun’s fever addled brain conjures up with the sole intent to hurt the man in his arms.

‘You are so selfish. You never care about anyone but yourself. Fucking nail polish-’ Choi says as he forcefully pries the vial out of Jiyong’s hands. Jiyong is unable to register why Choi is doing this until he sees him fling the bottle at the brick wall of the building behind him. There is a distinct sound of the vial breaking, and Jiyong too, sees red.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been writing and re-writing this for so long.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi, this is not a chapter. Sorry for getting anyone excited. I've been in a bad place for a few months. It's been hard, nothing particular triggered. I wrote but nothing was looking good. On top of that, the Seungri scandal hit me bad. I still don't know what to believe. I am really sorry for not posting. I am having a little free time now, So I am re-reading and trying to finish this because I hate to leave this incomplete. It'll take some time but I'll get back to this I promise. Thanks a bunch for the support and the love.   
> I am sorry for all of yall who waited for this fic for so long. I have attached my twitter link below. Come talk to me!

[@min_dragon96](https://twitter.com/min_dragon96) 


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